Program Overview

Start-Up Ventures Clinic

The Start-Up Ventures Clinic represents entrepreneurs and early-stage businesses and social ventures on a variety of matters related to the start-up process, including formation, founder equity and vesting, shareholder agreements, intellectual property protection and licensing agreements, commercialization strategies, and other issues that new enterprises face in their start-up phases. The course incorporates client representation with a seminar and individualized supervision to provide students with a range of opportunities to put legal theory into practice and to develop core legal skills such as interviewing, client counseling, negotiation, and drafting. Students in this course will, among other things, have the chance to deepen their substantive legal knowledge in entrepreneurial law and business law more generally, while at the same time developing critical professional skills through the direct representation of start-up businesses and entrepreneurs.

Important

• See Clinics Enrollment Policy
• This course may be dropped after the first class meeting.
• International LLM students who wish to enroll in a clinic must seek the permission of the instructor prior to the enrollment period. Permission is required to enroll but permission does not constitute entry into the clinic.
• Business Associations and Start-Up Law are recommended but not required.

Ethics Requirement

Students are required to have instruction in the Model Rules of Professional Conduct prior to, or during, enrollment in the Start-Up Ventures Clinic. Examples of ethics classes that meet the requirement include Ethics in Action: Large Firm Practice (LAW 231), Ethics of Social Justice Lawyering (LAW 237), Ethics and the Law of Lawyering (LAW 238), Ethics and the Law of Lawyering in Civil Litigation (LAW 239), Criminal Justice Ethics (LAW 317) and Ethics in Action (LAW 539).

Enrollment Pre-/Co- Requisite Information

• Any ethics course (Law 231, Law 237, Law 238, Law 239, Law 317, or Law 539)

Course Areas of Practice

• Business and Corporate Law
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• Intellectual Property, Science, and Technology Law

Evaluation Methods

• Group project(s)
• Practical exercises
• Live-client representation and case management
• Class participation

Degree Requirements

• JD elective
• JD experiential
• JD Standard 303(c)
• LLM-LE (JD) elective
• IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
• IntlLLM Business Cert
• PIPS elective
• PIPS experiential

Course Type

• Clinic

Learning Outcomes

• Other professional skills needed for competent and ethical participation as a member of the legal profession

Sample Syllabi

• 441-02-Spring2024-syllabus.pdf764.44 KB
• 441-01-Fall2022-syllabus.docx87.28 KB

Course Offerings

Spring 2026

• Course Number: 441.02
• Course Credits: 4
• Evaluation Method:
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation
• Instructor: Bryan McGann

Fall 2025

• Course Number: 441.01
• Course Credits: 4
• Evaluation Method:
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation
• Instructor: Bryan McGann

Spring 2025

• Course Number: 441.02
• Course Credits: 4
• Evaluation Method:
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation
• Instructor: Bryan McGann, Michael Murphy

Fall 2024

• Course Number: 441.01
• Course Credits: 4
• Evaluation Method:
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation
• Instructor: Bryan McGann, Michael Murphy

Spring 2024

• Course Number: 441.02
• Course Credits: 4
• Evaluation Method:
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation
• Instructor: Bryan McGann, Michael Murphy

Fall 2023

• Course Number: 441.01
• Course Credits: 4
• Evaluation Method:
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation
• Instructor: Bryan McGann, Michael Murphy

Spring 2023

• Course Number: 441.02
• Course Credits: 4
• Evaluation Method:
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation
• Instructor: Bryan McGann

Fall 2022

• Course Number: 441.01
• Course Credits: 4
• Evaluation Method:
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation
• Instructor: Bryan McGann

Spring 2022

• Course Number: 441.02
• Course Credits: 4
• Evaluation Method:
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation
• Instructor: Bryan McGann, Thomas Williams

Fall 2021

• Course Number: 441.01
• Course Credits: 4
• Evaluation Method:
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation
• Instructor: Bryan McGann, Thomas Williams

Spring 2021

• Course Number: 441.01
• Course Credits: 4
• Evaluation Method:
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation
• Instructor: Bryan McGann, Thomas Williams

Fall 2020

• Course Number: 441.01
• Course Credits: 4
• Evaluation Method:
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation
• Instructor: Bryan McGann, Thomas Williams

Spring 2020

• Course Number: 441.02
• Course Credits: 4
• Evaluation Method:
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation
• Instructor: Bryan McGann, Thomas Williams

Fall 2019

• Course Number: 441.01
• Course Credits: 4
• Evaluation Method:
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation
• Instructor: Bryan McGann, Thomas Williams

Spring 2019

• Course Number: 441.02
• Course Credits: 4
• Evaluation Method:
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation
• Instructor: Bryan McGann

Fall 2018

• Course Number: 441.01
• Course Credits: 4
• Evaluation Method:
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation
• Instructor: Bryan McGann, Andrew Foster, Thomas Williams

Spring 2018

• Course Number: 441.02
• Course Credits: 4
• Evaluation Method:
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation
• Instructor: Bryan McGann

Fall 2017

• Course Number: 441.01
• Course Credits: 4
• Evaluation Method:
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation
• Instructor: Bryan McGann

Spring 2017

• Course Number: 441.02
• Course Credits: 4
• Evaluation Method:
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation
• Instructor: Darrell Fruth, Bryan McGann

Fall 2016

• Course Number: 441.01
• Course Credits: 4
• Evaluation Method:
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation
• Instructor: Jeff Ward, Darrell Fruth

Spring 2016

• Course Number: 441.02
• Course Credits: 4
• Evaluation Method:
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation
• Instructor: Jeff Ward, Darrell Fruth

Additional Information

For more information about the Start-Up Ventures Clinic, please refer to the course syllabi and the Duke Law website.