The Entrepreneurship Clinic (the "clinic") launches in the Winter 2012 semester as a novel clinical law program focusing exclusively on advising University of Michigan ("U-M") student entrepreneurs. The clinic will provide law students with unique, real-world experience in early-stage business and intellectual property law while offering valuable legal services to the U-M student body.

While U-M has a rich history of producing world-changing entrepreneurs—such as Google co-founder Larry Page, iPod inventor Tony Fadell, former Skype CEO Josh Silverman, Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy, Groupon co-founders Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkofsky, and HandyLab co-founders Kalyan Handique and Sundaresh Brahmasandra—the entrepreneurial activity of students is reaching new heights. Just to give a few examples:

• The TechArb Student Accelerator will host 19 start-up ventures during Winter 2012 after receiving a record number of applications;
• Entrepreneur Magazine named U-M student Allen Kim its Entrepreneur of the Year;
• U-M-affiliated start-ups, such as "Are you a Human," are increasingly winning notoriety and funding; 
• U-M will launch its new Master of Entrepreneurship program in 2012;
• U-M now has three student-run venture funds: the $5.5 million early stage Wolverine Venture Fund, the five-year-old pre-seed Frankel Commercialization Fund, and the newest, the first student-run Social Venture Fund.

The clinic will offer an array of legal services—from intellectual property advice to entity formation and deal-making—to help U-M's student innovators change the world.

Through this clinic, law students will hone and develop the skills needed to serve as trustworthy advisors to early-stage companies and inventors. The classroom component of the clinic will address topics including how to effectively represent entrepreneurs, interviewing and counseling entrepreneurs, negotiating and drafting documents, entity formation, intellectual property, legal ethics, and other relevant topics. Law students will work under the close supervision of experienced clinical faculty and internationally recognized law firms that assist the clinic. Other activities may include: engaging with attorneys, venture capitalists, or entrepreneurs who will visit the clinic, touring the Ann Arbor entrepreneurial ecosystem, providing "office hours" for student entrepreneurs, and providing educational presentations or publications to the local entrepreneurial community.