Director's message

Jill Fetherstonhaugh

I am pleased to report that the Small Business Clinic (SBC) is in its ninth semester of operations. The thirty-seven students who have participated in the SBC so far have served over one hundred clients who operate a wide variety of small businesses including on-line retail sales, an after school science program, an athletic training company, soap and body product manufacturers, construction companies and a landscape design company, just to name a few.

For those of you that are new to our program, the SBC is an in-house clinic that provides third-year law students with a practical opportunity to represent small companies and entrepreneurs who require legal assistance forming and running their small businesses.

The mission of the SBC is to teach our students the skills necessary to excel in the practice of law by providing each student with intensive training and practical experience representing real clients in a simulated law-firm environment.

In addition to working with small business clients, the students at the SBC participate in a weekly seminar at which a guest speaker is invited to present on issues relating to small business clients.

To-date, the SBC has received incredible support from attorneys, CPAs and other top professionals who have referred clients to the SBC and donated their time to provide seminars on topics including but not limited to, entity formation, taxation, how divorce affects a small business, the importance of insurance, regulatory issues relating to lottery and the OLCC and client communication skills.

I would like to thank Carolyn Chambers for her generous financial contribution and vision in the development of the Center for Law and Entrepreneurship and specifically the Small Business Clinic.

I also appreciated the involvement of Lane Community College Business and Development Center and the Senior Corp of Retired Executives (SCORE) for referring high quality clients to the SBC — as quality client referrals are vital for the long-term success of the clinic.

This semester we welcome Katherine Moyer, a practicing business lawyer, as a second SBC supervising attorney.

Additionally, the SBC greatly benefits from the professional efforts of our Administrative Coordinator, Laurie Strother, who manages the day-to-day activities of the SBC and coordinates client and student activities.

I am pleased to serve as the director of the SBC and personally thank our seminar speakers, referral sources, staff and students for their individual contributions in making the Small Business Clinic an excellent legal program that benefits our community, students and the law firms in which our graduates will practice law.