Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic

What Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic does

The Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic (L&E Clinic) is a nonprofit legal clinic operated by the University of Wisconsin Law School that provides free legal services to nascent entrepreneurs and early-stage companies in Wisconsin. Founded in 2009 and located at 975 Bascom Mall, Room 4314 in Madison, the clinic sits within the Wisconsin state university system under the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents and serves approximately 300 clients per year through a roster of more than 250 law student attorneys, supervised by faculty and private sector attorneys including named clinical instructors Tami Patel and Jeffrey Glazer.

The clinic's core offerings span four practice areas: business entity formation, intellectual property portfolio development (patentability analysis, trademark advice, copyright review), online presence legal compliance (privacy policies and terms of service), and employment/independent contractor agreements. Beyond core formation services, the clinic operates five specialized programs: recurring Office Hours for general entrepreneur guidance, Faculty Consulting for UW faculty and staff, Name Image & Likeness (NIL) Contract Reviews for UW student athletes, a Rural Entrepreneurship Program serving entrepreneurs outside Madison and Milwaukee, and Legal Audits for established businesses. Educational video resources on trademarks, copyright, LLCs, lawyer selection, and worker classifications are published via YouTube as a top-of-funnel channel.

The clinic does not generate commercial revenue; all services are delivered at no cost to qualifying clients (nascent entrepreneurs, early-stage companies, UW faculty and staff, UW student athletes, and rural Wisconsin entrepreneurs). Operating funding flows through the University of Wisconsin Law School institutional budget, with no venture capital, private equity, or commercial investor involvement. The stated outcome metric is that 75% of past clients remain in business, positioning the clinic as an experiential-learning, ecosystem-building service rather than a scaling commercial enterprise.

Name

Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic

Legal name

Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic (University of Wisconsin Law School)

Website

https://uwle.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic is a nonprofit legal clinic at the University of Wisconsin Law School that provides free legal services to nascent entrepreneurs, early-stage companies, UW faculty and staff, student athletes, and rural Wisconsin entrepreneurs through supervised law students.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Services for Entrepreneurs

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110), Legal Services (5411), Business and Secretarial Schools (61141)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAHAIAG

Clinical Legal Education & Legal Aid Clinics (Law School–Run)

Education/Higher Education (Colleges & Universities)/Law Schools

SECONDARYEDAMAHAL

Business Law, Ethics & Compliance (Contracts, IP Basics)

Education/Supplemental & Enrichment Programs (Arts, STEM, Language)/Entrepreneurship & Business Enrichment

Keywords

• Legal services
• Startup legal counsel
• Business formation
• Intellectual property law
• Entrepreneurship law

Headquarters

HQ city

Madison

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. University Funding: As a university-affiliated law clinic, the organization is funded through the University of Wisconsin Law School. Services are provided free of charge to qualifying clients, supported by institutional funding and student participation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic provides free legal services to nascent entrepreneurs and early-stage companies through the work of law students supervised by faculty and private sector attorneys. Core offerings include guidance on business entity formation, intellectual property portfolio development (patents, trademarks, copyrights), online presence legal compliance (privacy policies, terms of service), and employment/independent contractor agreements. Specialized programs extend free services to UW faculty and staff, UW student athletes for NIL contract reviews, and rural entrepreneurs outside the Madison and Milwaukee metros.

Product overview

The Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic is a single-service legal practice offering free legal advice to nascent entrepreneurs and early-stage companies through law students supervised by faculty and private sector attorneys. The clinic provides a unified service offering centered on business formation, intellectual property protection, online presence legal compliance, and employment/contractor agreements. Additional specialized services include Office Hours for general guidance, Faculty Consulting for UW affiliates, NIL Contract Reviews for student athletes, and a Rural Entrepreneurship Program for entrepreneurs outside major metropolitan areas. The clinic serves approximately 300 clients annually and has helped thousands of founders start innovative businesses since its creation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Rural Entrepreneurship Program: Initiative to support entrepreneurship outside of Madison and Milwaukee areas
• Faculty Consulting
• NIL Contract Reviews

Products and services

• Business Formation Legal Services Free legal advisory services guiding founders through entity selection, formation, and proper legal document filing based on funding strategies, ownership models, business plans, and tax exposure. For nascent entrepreneurs and early-stage companies.
• Intellectual Property Portfolio Services Free legal services helping entrepreneurs protect inventions, brands, and content through patentability analysis, trademark rights advice, and copyright protection review. For early-stage enterprises with bold new inventions, brands, and content.
• Online Presence Legal Services Drafting of privacy policies ensuring legal compliance and effective data protection communication, plus terms of service agreements designed to limit client liability and ensure a great user experience. For businesses with sophisticated websites central to their business model.
• Employment and Contractor Agreements Drafting of employment contracts and independent contractor agreements that protect intellectual property and trade secrets, establish a clear scope of work and payment terms, and specify what happens when a contract ends. For early-stage businesses building workforce and contractor relationships.
• Office Hours Regular scheduled sessions providing general guidance and responding to questions from entrepreneurs seeking legal advice. For entrepreneurs who need quick legal input without a full representation engagement.
• Faculty Consulting Free legal services provided to University of Wisconsin faculty and staff members, including guidance on faculty consulting arrangements and research-related legal issues such as research commercialization and intellectual property matters.
• Name, Image & Likeness (NIL) Contract Reviews Free representation of University of Wisconsin student athletes to review name, image, and likeness (NIL) contracts. For UW student athletes needing help understanding and reviewing NIL contract terms.
• Rural Entrepreneurship Program Initiative supporting entrepreneurship outside of the Madison and Milwaukee areas, providing free legal services to rural entrepreneurs who otherwise have limited access to legal resources and entrepreneurial support services.
• Legal Audit Legal review services for established businesses seeking to assess and improve their legal compliance and documentation. For companies that have moved past the formation stage and need a comprehensive legal health check.

Quantifiable outcome

• 75% of past clients are still in business

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• LegalZoom: Established consumer/SMB legal services platform offering business formation, trademark filing, contracts, and compliance documents online at low cost. A broad incumbent whose low-cost self-serve model competes with the clinic's free offering on the simpler matters.

Regional players

• Gener8tor: Wisconsin/Midwest-based accelerator and venture fund that works closely with the Madison and Milwaukee startup ecosystems — many of whose portfolio companies are exactly the early-stage clients the L&E Clinic serves. Comparable as a regional ecosystem player serving the same founder base.
• Wisconsin Small Business Development Center (SBDC): Wisconsin's regional SBDC network providing free business advising to entrepreneurs, including legal-adjacent guidance on formation and compliance. Comparable as a free, regionally focused, university/government-affiliated resource serving the same Wisconsin founder base.

Others

• SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives): Nationwide nonprofit providing free mentoring and resources (including legal) to small businesses and nascent entrepreneurs. Comparable as a free, nonprofit, ecosystem-supported service for early-stage founders, though not law-specific.

Direct peers

• Emory Law — Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic: Emory Law School's clinic providing transactional legal services to small businesses and early-stage companies in the Atlanta region. Comparable structure, mission, and customer base to UW's L&E Clinic.
• Northwestern Pritzker Entrepreneurship Law Center: Northwestern Law's hub for entrepreneurship-focused clinical education and legal services to startups. Comparable as a top-tier law school entrepreneurship legal clinic offering supervised student representation to early-stage companies.
• Stanford Law School — Mills Legal Clinic: Stanford Law's clinical program including entrepreneurship and IP-focused clinics serving startups and innovators in Silicon Valley. Directly comparable as a peer law-school-run clinical program for early-stage ventures.
• Cornell Tech — Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship Clinic: Cornell Tech's clinical program providing free legal services to tech startups and entrepreneurs in the NYC/Roosevelt Island ecosystem. Direct peer in mission, structure (university clinic), and customer base (nascent/early-stage founders).
• Harvard Law School Entrepreneurship & Venture Management: Harvard Law School's clinical program providing pro bono transactional legal services to startups and entrepreneurs. Directly comparable as another elite law-school-run entrepreneurship clinic serving founders through supervised students.

Emerging players

• Clerky: Tech-enabled legal document and incorporation platform purpose-built for startups, automating the same formation, IP, and contract workflows the L&E Clinic handles manually. Adjacent competitor for routine startup legal work, especially for founders outside Wisconsin.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/uwlande
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/WisconsinLaw
• Facebookfacebook.com/uwlawschool
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/uw-law-and-entrepreneurship-clinic
• Instagraminstagram.com/uwisconsinlaw

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic