MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Marquette University Law School is launching a Law and Entrepreneurship Clinic. This is a new opportunity for law students that enhances the school's commitment to public service and supports several new campus-wide and community innovation initiatives.
The clinic will be the first program in the Milwaukee area to offer free legal services to start-up businesses and entrepreneurs, with a focus on clients who cannot afford qualified legal counsel.
The clinic will be staffed by Marquette law students, who will receive hands-on training in business law under the supervision of a licensed attorney and member of the faculty.
"Entrepreneurs always need more time to spend on their ideas and innovations, which is exactly what the Law School's new Law and Entrepreneurship Clinic will allow them to do. In return, our students will learn how to have a direct impact on the next wave of start-ups. Together, we'll advance the region's reputation as a place where great concepts thrive," said Marquette President, Michael Lovell.
As is the case with other public policy initiatives, including the Marquette Law SChool Poll, the clinic will be funded by donations to Law School's Annual Fund.
The launch is being directed by Nathan Hammons, who joins the Law School on a full-time basis as a clinic faculty member and director of the clinic. Hammons previously served as an adjunct professor at the Law School while operating his own private law practice in Milwaukee, where he represented early-stage entrepreneurs and small businesses with a focus on tech start-ups in southeast Wisconsin.
Legal services will include counsel on:
The clinic will open in a limited capacity in the 2015 spring semester and is expected to be fully operational by fall 2015. Clients will be selected based on a wide range of criteria, including access to legal services, educational fit, and potential for community impact.
To schedule an interview with Professor Hammons, and for more information on the clinic, members of the media contact Chris Jenkins in the Office of Marketing and Communication at christopher.t.jenkins@marquette.edu or 414-288-4745.