Entrepreneurship Clinic

This 4-credit clinic provides students in Newark and Camden with hands-on transactional law experience representing for-profit entrepreneurs and non-profit social entrepreneurs, sometimes working in partnership with other Rutgers' graduate schools. Preference is given to evening (part-time) students.

It is a virtual law firm, serving clients and giving students both substantive knowledge in areas applicable to entrepreneurial enterprises and skills needed to represent those clients. In the process, it creates linkages with the Greater Newark and Camden entrepreneurial communities that provide further opportunities to promote economic development and job creation. A majority of the Clinic’s clients are minority and/or women-owned.

The Clinic provides counseling and representation on such matters as:  

• pre-venture activities
• business planning
• entity selection and formation
• the negotiation, drafting, and review of agreements
• developing management and governance processes
• capital structure, valuation and finance
• compliance with securities laws and regulations
• intellectual property
• ongoing entrepreneurial and business activities
• particular issues relevant to non-profits
• employee management
• community relations.

Working in teams under the supervision of faculty members who have decades of experience representing entrepreneurs, students are responsible for establishing and maintaining relationships with their clients; reviewing clients’ business models; drafting or reviewing documents; and researching/developing work plans to meet the clients’ needs.

Meet the Faculty

Prof. Doug Eakeley, Founder & Co-Director

Professor Eakeley is the founder and co-director of the Rutgers Law School Entrepreneurship Clinic. He  joined Rutgers Law School in 2012 as the first occupant of the Alan V. Lowenstein Chair in Corporate and Business Law, after several decades in private practice specializing in complex commercial litigation. A former Rhodes Scholar, Professor Eakeley served as First Assistant Attorney General of the State of New Jersey during the administration of Governor James J. Florio. In 1993, he was appointed by President William J. Clinton (with the consent of the United States Senate) to the board of directors of the Legal Services Corporation, which he chaired until April 2003.   His current professional affiliations include serving as a founding trustee (and former Chair) of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, trustee (and former Chair) of Legal Services of New Jersey, and Treasurer of the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority.

Vice Dean Arthur Laby, Co-Director

Dean Laby is a recognized expert in securities law, the regulation of investment management, and the fiduciary relationship. His research focuses on investment management regulation, the duties of market participants, and the fiduciary obligation. Previously he served as Assistant General Counsel for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and worked in private practice. Before working on the SEC staff, Professor Laby was awarded a Fulbright scholarship and was a visiting lecturer in Germany. Earlier, he was an associate at the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (now WilmerHale), practicing in the areas of securities regulation and commercial law.