Entrepreneurial Law Clinic

Entrepreneurial Law Clinic

The Entrepreneurial Law Clinic (“ELC”) is part of the experiential learning program at the University of Alberta Faculty of Law and is aimed at providing law students with the opportunity to apply their legal knowledge in a clinical setting for the benefit of the public. The clinic allows students to develop practical legal and interpersonal skills, gain a deeper understanding of professional ethics and responsibility, and serve their immediate community.

The ELC is dedicated to expanding access to legal services by providing free legal guidance and support to early-stage entrepreneurs, small businesses, and non-profit organizations in the greater Edmonton area (Treaty 6 territory) who cannot otherwise afford such legal services.

Who We Serve

The ELC provides free legal support tailored to the needs of entrepreneurs and ventures who would otherwise be unable to afford paid legal support. We assist businesses of all types, including sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations, as well as charities and non-profit organizations (NGOs), including incorporated and unincorporated NGOs.

Becoming a Client

You can apply to the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic at any time however, most applications are reviewed in January, May, and September each year. Select applicants will be invited to an intake interview. Following the intake interview, applicants will be informed whether they have been selected to be a client of the Clinic. Applicants become clients once they sign an engagement letter.

The Clinic is currently accepting applications for client intake. Note that an application to the Clinic may be waitlisted depending on Clinic availability.

Since the Clinic is run by law students and part of an academic program, it is not suitable for urgent or time-sensitve matters, nor for issues that extend over long periods. Therefore, clients should expect longer timelines for deliverables compared to traditional law firms.

Our Services

The ELC may assist clients with the following:

Answering general legal questions and providing legal information regarding various subject matters including:
- General legal issues relating to business and non-profit operations
- Differences between various business structures including sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations
- Differences between non-profits and registered charities
- Social entrepreneurship
- Intellectual property
- Privacy law
- Business licences
- Employment
Reviewing existing contracts relating to businesses and non-profits organizations
Drafting and reviewing various legal documents relating to businesses and non-profit organizations, including:
- Articles of incorporation and other incorporation documents for business corporations and non-profit corporations/societies
- Constitution, by-laws, and other governing documents for non-profit organizations
- Corporate resolutions for business corporations and non-profit corporations
- Partnership Agreements
- Shareholders and Founders Agreements
- Memorandum of Understanding
- Commercial Contracts
- Employment and Independent Contractor Agreements
- Terms and Conditions for websites and other digital platforms
- Privacy Policies
- Licensing Agreements
- Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Agreements
- Other documents as determined by clinic supervisors
Other transactional legal support as determined by the clinic supervisors

The clinic cannot assist clients with:

Litigation and court-related documentation
Representations in contractual negotiations
Immigration matters
Tax, financial services, bankruptcy, securities commission, or stock exchange matters
The registration of copyrights, trademarks, patents, or industrial designs
Matters requiring a trust account (e.g., purchase or sale of business, property, or real estate)
Matters outside the legal jurisdiction of Alberta
Debt collection and recovery
Any contentious matter
Any other matter that the clinic supervisors determine that a law student cannot properly assist with

ELC Academic Credit

ELC Summer Internship

Apply Now! Entrepreneurial Law Clinic Summer Internship 2025

Apply through our form here!

The Entrepreneurial Law Clinic (ELC) is hiring summer interns for 2025!  Current 1L & 2L JD students with an interest in supporting entrepreneurs, early-stage businesses, and non-profit organizations are invited to join our dynamic team! Summer legal interns work on all aspects of the ELC’s and, like Fall and Winter term students, take the lead on the files assigned to them, supported by the Clinic supervisors and mentoring lawyers. Although Clinic’s files vary from summer to summer, they often include matters related to entity formation, employment and hiring, intellectual property, consumer privacy, non-profits and charities regulations and compliance, business regulations, website and platform regulation, and commercial transactions. Interns will be involved in supporting the Clinic’s new and ongoing file docket and in making decisions about client intake, cases, and topic areas to be addressed in the Clinic’s work during the upcoming academic year. Interns are supervised by the ELC supervisors and mentored by volunteer advising lawyers and are provided with feedback and growth opportunities.

Responsibilities

Entrepreneurial Law Clinic interns will conduct legal work throughout the internship, including but not limited to conducting legal research; drafting memoranda and transactional legal documents, and providing clients with legal information. Interns will also contribute to the public legal education program of the clinic and may be required to prepare legal information brochures and attend community events.

Interns are responsible for managing their own files and are expected to balance their work on multiple files, schedule client and supervisor meetings, and maintain client relationships.

About the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic:

The Entrepreneurial Law Clinic provides high-quality, pro-bono legal services. Students enhance their preparation for transactional legal practice by working on client counseling and transactional files. The Clinic strives to help clients achieve success in their business and non-profit operations. The Clinic also provides public legal education in the form of community events and easy-to-understand legal information brochures on various

Logistics

The internship is expected to be full time, virtual, and last approximately fourteen to sixteen weeks (between May and August). Students will be paid for the actual number of hours worked at the Faculty of Law’s regular RA hourly rate.

Qualifications

Currently enrolled in the JD program at the University of Alberta. We encourage applications from current 1Ls and 2Ls.
Strong interest in one or more relevant areas of practice, including contracts, corporations, nonprofits and charities, regulation and compliance, intellectual property, employment, and consumer privacy.
Strong research, writing, and communication skills.
No prior legal internship experience required.

Application

To apply, please fill out and submit this form. To complete the application, you will need to supply a resume or CV and a cover letter. The Clinic may request a writing sample and references later in the process, but they are not required as part of the initial application. We will only contact candidates who move to the next step.

Internship applications are accepted on a rolling basis until all positions are filled. We encourage applicants to apply by April 1, 2025 to receive full consideration

If you have any questions, please contact lawentcl@ualberta.ca