The Law & Entrepreneurship (L&E) Clinic is designed to help entrepreneurs develop businesses that create a positive economic impact for the state of Wisconsin.
We select applicants with a connection to Wisconsin who would otherwise be unlikely to obtain qualified legal advice. This usually means the applicant has not received a significant round of outside funding or financing from investors. We are also interested in whether the work requested presents an interesting educational opportunity for our students.
Legal Advice for Wisconsin Entrepreneurs
Form your business.
The first step for most founders is to select and form a business entity.
We advise clients on the type of legal entity that best suits their goals by reviewing their funding strategies, ownership models, business plans and tax exposure.
We then follow up to be sure the correct legal documents are properly filed.
Shape your intellectual property portfolio.
We help entrepreneurs add value to their early-stage enterprise by providing a solid footing for their intellectual property (IP) portfolio.
Many of our clients have bold new inventions, brands and content that they want to protect as they bring their ideas to market. Our students and supervising attorneys advise on trademark rights for brands, review content for copyright protection and provide limited advice on patentability protection.
Set rules of the road for your online presence.
Sophisticated websites are at the heart of the business model for many of our clients.
We help our clients draft privacy policies that comply with legal requirements and effectively communicate how they protect sensitive data. We also build terms of service agreements designed to limit the liability of our clients and to ensure a great user experience for their customers and business partners.
Establish strong relationships with your employees and contractors.
Well-drafted contracts are a great way to build business relationships from a solid foundation.
We draft employment contracts and independent contractor agreements that:
- Protect the intellectual property and trade secrets of our clients
- Establish a clear scope of work to be delivered and terms of payment
- Specify what happens when a contract ends
Application Process
- Fill out the "Request Legal Advice" form.
- We will contact you to schedule an initial screening interview. Screening interviews typically occur weekly.
- After the screening interview, we will let you know whether our services are a good fit for your legal needs.
Disclaimers
Sending an email to us or submitting this form does not create an attorney-client relationship, and any information you include will not necessarily be treated as privileged or confidential. You should not send sensitive or confidential information to this email address or using this form. Documents will not be viewed until you have formally been accepted as a client and have signed an engagement letter with the Clinic.
The information provided in your application and subsequent surveys and questionnaires may be used for quality improvement of the services provided by the Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic. We may use the information gathered from you in the course of your application and subsequent services to learn how we can be more effective. We will never publish any personally identifiable information, and we will take all reasonable efforts to ensure that your identity is not ascertainable from the information that may be published. In the course of gathering information, we will indicate information which is minimally required for providing services; you are under no obligation to provide additional information. We endeavor to provide the best services we can, and any information and feedback that you can provide will help to make us better.
Issues Not Handled by the L&E Clinic
- Litigation/disputes (or situations where litigation appears likely)
- Pure tax advice
- International law
