The Rural Entrepreneurship Program is an L&E Clinic intiative intended to support entrepreneurship outside of Madison and Milwaukee.
Program Goals
The goal of the program is two-fold:
- first and foremost, to support entrepreneurs through direct action and support for policy initiatives that create opportunity for entrepreneurs in rural Wisconsin; and
- second, to support law students interested in practicing in rural communities.
Entrepreneur Support
Our program supports entrepreneurs by providing direct legal action and outreach. We do this in two ways: referrals to our services and Clinic Connect office hours. We also support policy initiatives in areas that directly affect rural entrepreneurs including broadband, cooperatives, and access to capital.
Service Referrals
We work with community partners to identify entrepreneurs that may need legal support and refer them to the L&E Clinic for free legal advice.
Clinic Connect Office Hours
We also work with community partners to bring Clinic Connect Office Hours as an additional service to programming that is already occurring in the community.
Student Involvement
For law students, participating in the Rural Entrepreneurship Program is a unique opportunity.
For students interested in working outside of Madison or Milwaukee, working in the program can introduce them to community leaders, lawyers, and entrepreneurs in the communities where they want to practice. In turn, it lets the communities meet our students and see their high calibre work up close. For students interested in public policy, we offer the opportunity to dig in to meaningful issues that directly support rural entrepreneurship.
When our students leave UW Law School and go out to practice, they will have a head start.
