Innovative Intellectual Property Clinic at the University of Dayton School of Law Provides Students with a Real World Law Practice Experience

Guest blog post by Gregory Richards, a third-year law student at the University of Dayton School of Law and an inaugural member of its IP law clinic.  He has a technical background in the field of chemistry, with a focus on inorganic complexes and electrochemistry.  Greg recently passed the U.S. patent bar examination and is currently seeking a patent prosecution position at a law firm upon graduation from law school in May.

INNOVATIVE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CLINIC AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON SCHOOL OF LAW PROVIDES STUDENTS WITH A REAL WORLD LAW PRACTICE EXPERIENCE

Once again, the University of Dayton School of Law (UDSL) is at the forefront of the movement to provide students with practical experience in the practice of business and intellectual property law.  This spring, the Program in Law and Technology (PILT) at UDSL launched the inaugural Entrepreneurship and Intellectual Property (IP) Law Clinic.  Much like traditional law school clinics, student associates represent clients under the supervision of licensed attorneys.  While traditional law school clinics focus on providing students with courtroom experience, the IP Clinic is geared toward students interested in working as transactional attorneys.  

With UDSL’s emphasis on experiential learning in mind, the IP Clinic was designed to provide students with practical experience.  Students meet with clients, perform legal research, draft memoranda and documents, and perform other client-related tasks.  Additionally, students are focused on helping innovators protect their inventions and aiding new enterprises select and implement their corporate structure.  Furthermore, the IP Clinic at UDSL provides an excellent complement to the PILT externship program, which offers students the opportunity to gain practical experience by working for governmental agency, law firm, corporation, court or legal aid.  

IP Clinic students truly are having the exact same experiences as we as practicing IP attorneys at law firms or as in-house counsel have every day, from conducting in-take interviews with clients, explaining complex legal issues to business people, developing creative solutions to protect clients’ IP rights, etc.  The IP Clinic gives UD students a leg up on their competition and distinguishes its students from other law school graduates interested in pursuing a career in intellectual property law.  

-  Stephen Weyer, member of the UDSL’s PILT Advisory Council and UDSL graduate, 1997.

The IP Clinic is collaborating with a number of University of Dayton units or offices, including the School of Business Administration, the Innovation Center, the Design and Manufacturing Clinic, the Office of Legal Affairs, and the University of Dayton Research Institute.  These units provide the clients and matters for the IP client students to tackle.  “The innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity that takes place right here on the university campus is fertile ground for IP Clinic students to learn how to meet the needs of actual clients,” said Kelly Henrici, executive director of the Program in Law and Technology, who is supervising the IP Clinic.  This diverse group of university clients exposes students in the IP Clinic to a variety of business and intellectual property law matters, including patent, copyright, and trademark law.

The IP Clinic also exposes students to the business/administrative aspect of the practice of law.  Throughout the semester, the students are responsible for their own time management, billing matters, document management, etc.  Part of this is accomplished using advanced case management software used by many law firms.  Accordingly, the IP law clinic truly mimics a law firm environment giving the students “real world” practical experience. 

In addition to the client-related work, students in the IP Clinic are required to attend a weekly class meeting.  This weekly class meeting provides the students with an opportunity to discuss their work with other members of the IP Clinic, receive feedback and advice on drafts, and promotes teamwork skills that are essential for effective lawyering.

The IP Clinic at UDSL is an innovative method of providing law students with practical experience in the fields of business and intellectual property law that is sure to facilitate the transition from student to practicing attorney.  We fully expect to see other law schools across the country follow the lead of UDSL by offering their own version of a clinical experience devoted to business and intellectual property law.

© Stephen J. Weyer 2013

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