Entrepreneurship & Innovation Clinic at Yale Law School

What Entrepreneurship & Innovation Clinic at Yale Law School does

The Entrepreneurship & Innovation Clinic at Yale Law School is a non-profit legal services clinic established in 2018 as part of Yale Law School's clinical programs. The Clinic provides free legal counsel to for-profit and nonprofit entrepreneurs and their ventures on transactional matters including pre-venture counseling, business formation, capital raising and financing, corporate governance, intellectual property and licensing, business contracts, regulatory compliance, and employment matters. It is staffed by Yale Law School students who work under the supervision of clinical faculty, with Clinical Professor Sven Riethmueller serving as inaugural Director and Katherine Sadowski serving as Program Manager and paralegal. Client work is led by Professor Riethmueller, who brings over 30 years of legal experience including partnership at national and international law firms and service as global general counsel of a publicly traded life sciences company.

The Clinic's clients range from Yale student and faculty-led ventures to innovative start-ups and emerging growth companies from the greater New Haven innovation ecosystem, the East Coast, and around the globe. Because capacity is limited by student staffing, the Clinic intentionally serves a limited number of clients at any given time and gives preference to ventures with a positive social impact or that push the boundaries of innovation, including ventures led by individuals or groups underrepresented in the venture space. Clients are admitted through an application process and must sign a formal written engagement letter before an attorney-client relationship is established; clients typically graduate from the Clinic once they obtain sufficient financing.

The Clinic operates as a direct service provider without commercial revenue, funded through Yale Law School institutional resources. In addition to direct legal counsel, the Clinic publishes the EIC Startup Sourcebook, a free curated educational resource providing articles and model legal documents including a model Founders Agreement and model SAFE for startups and founders. The Clinic does not develop or sell technology products and offers no public API or software platform; its distribution channels consist of an application-based intake funnel, LinkedIn presence, an email newsletter, and a website news room.

Name

Entrepreneurship & Innovation Clinic at Yale Law School

Legal name

Yale Law School

Website

https://eic-yls.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Entrepreneurship & Innovation Clinic at Yale Law School is a non-profit legal services clinic, established in 2018, that provides free transactional and corporate legal counsel to Yale-affiliated ventures, start-ups, and emerging growth companies, with priority for socially impactful or innovative ventures.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (54111), Legal Services (5411), Business and Secretarial Schools (611410)

SIC

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

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAMAHAL

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

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

SECONDARYEDAHAIAF

Specialty Law Schools (e.g., Tax, IP, International, Trial Advocacy)

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

SECONDARYEDAMAHAA

Entrepreneurship Foundations & Startup Basics

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

Keywords

• Pro bono legal services
• Startup legal counsel
• Transactional law clinic
• Entity formation advice
• Intellectual property counseling

Headquarters

HQ city

New Haven

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Pro Bono Legal Services: The Clinic provides all legal services free of charge to its clients. Clients do not pay for the legal services provided by the Clinic. However, clients may be responsible for certain expenses such as governmental filing fees. This is a non-profit educational initiative at Yale Law School.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Entrepreneurship & Innovation Clinic at Yale Law School provides free legal counsel and services to for-profit and nonprofit entrepreneurs and their ventures on transactional matters and related corporate and intellectual property issues. Core practice areas include pre-venture counseling, founders' arrangements, business entity selection and formation, capital raising and financing, corporate governance, intellectual property and licensing, business contracts, regulatory matters, and employment matters. Legal work is performed by Yale Law School students under the supervision of experienced clinical faculty.

Product overview

The Entrepreneurship & Innovation Clinic at Yale Law School is a legal services clinic (not a technology product company) offering two main offerings: (1) the core Entrepreneurship & Innovation Clinic Legal Services providing free legal counsel to entrepreneurs on transactional, corporate, and IP matters, and (2) the EIC Startup Sourcebook, a free curated educational resource with articles and model legal documents for founders. The clinic serves Yale student/faculty ventures, startups, and emerging growth companies, prioritizing ventures with positive social impact or innovative boundaries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Entrepreneurship & Innovation Clinic Legal Services Free legal counsel provided to for-profit and nonprofit entrepreneurs and their ventures on transactional matters and related corporate and intellectual property issues, including entity formation, capital raising, governance, IP licensing, contracts, regulatory matters, and employment matters. Services are provided by Yale Law School students under the supervision of clinical faculty.
• EIC Startup Sourcebook A free curated educational resource for startups and founders providing articles and model form legal documents, including a model Founders Agreement and a model SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity). The Sourcebook does not provide legal advice but offers educational information only.

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Gunderson Dettmer: A specialized law firm focused on venture capital, emerging companies, and technology M&A. Represents the next-tier commercial counsel many of EIC's graduated clients engage as they grow. Comparable on practice focus but not on delivery model.
• Cooley LLP: A leading global law firm with one of the largest dedicated startup and venture capital practices; serves as the commercial counterpart many EIC clients graduate into once they raise financing. Adjacent rather than direct competition given its fee-based model and broader scope.
• Fenwick & West: A premier technology and life sciences law firm serving high-growth startups and venture-backed companies on formation, financing, and IP. Adjacent comparator as a commercial firm practicing in EIC's core subject matter areas.

Others

• Yale Entrepreneurial Society / Yale Ventures: Yale University's central entrepreneurship hub that channels student and faculty ventures to the EIC and provides complementary programming, mentorship, and resources. Ecosystem participant rather than a legal services peer.
• Techstars / Startup Weekend Legal Clinics: Startup accelerator programs that occasionally partner with law school clinics to provide pro bono legal services to portfolio founders. Thematically aligned as a complementary channel serving the same early-stage founder audience.

Direct peers

• Harvard Law School Entrepreneurship & Community Development Clinic: Closest functional peer — a clinical program at a peer Ivy League law school that provides free transactional and corporate legal services to entrepreneurs and community ventures. Directly comparable in mission, staffing model (students under faculty supervision), and client base.
• Georgetown Law Entrepreneurship & Innovation Clinic: Georgetown Law operates a clinic providing transactional legal services to DC-area startups, replicating the law-school-clinic model that anchors EIC at Yale. Comparable in mission and student-supervised delivery.
• Stanford Law School Startups and Venture Capital Clinic: Stanford Law's clinical offering providing transactional and corporate counsel to early-stage companies and impact-oriented ventures. Closely mirrors EIC's structure and practice areas with a West Coast geographic focus.
• NYU School of Law Entrepreneurship Law Clinic: NYU Law's clinic providing pro bono transactional counsel to early-stage ventures in the New York innovation ecosystem. Operates the same student-supervised clinical model serving a similar East Coast startup client base.
• Cornell Law School Entrepreneurship Law Clinic: A clinical program at Cornell Law School offering free transactional legal services to startups and emerging companies, with analogous student-staffed delivery and focus on formation, financing, and IP. Directly comparable structure and service mix.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/entrepreneurship-innovation-clinic-at-yale-law-school
• Xx.com/EICYLS

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments1 record

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

Frequently asked questions about Entrepreneurship & Innovation Clinic at Yale Law School