University of Utah : S.J. Quinney College of Law

Small Business - Non Profit Clinic

Tags:access to justice clinic small business 

Request for Proposal

Download Proposal Form

The University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law is launching a Small Business/ Nonprofit Clinic that will provide legal consulting by law students supervised by instructors and pro bono attorneys.  During the Fall 2007 semester, the College of Law will send a number of teams of two second and third year law students to consult with nonprofit corporations. 

Each student team will be introduced to a non-profit organization for which the student will conduct a legal audit, prepare and present oral and written reports of their findings, and, in some cases, prepare documents or instruments in connection with those findings.  All work will be conducted under the general supervision of instructors and a pro bono consulting lawyer. The legal audits will generally focus on form of organization, compliance with formal legal requirements, including issues relating to capacity and authority, regulatory compliance, employment law issues and special matters arising out of the specific industry or area of activity of the client.  

Small Business and Non-profit corporations participating in this opportunity will receive legal consulting services without financial cost.  During this semester-long service learning partnership, students will meet frequently with their client organization.  Clients may be given the opportunity to participate in a classroom session in December that reflects on the experience.  If your organization is interested in working with a team of students from the University of Utah College of Law for the purpose of a legal audit, please submit the attached RFP including answers to the “Request for Proposal Questionnaire� shown on the next page.  Please limit the proposal to two pages.  Proposals will be evaluated objectively to ensure that services are provided to non-profits that do not have legal counsel and could not reasonably afford legal counsel at this point. 

The number of projects that can be accepted is limited, so please be as concise, specific and compelling about your organization and the benefits you see from participating in this process.  The evaluation process will match the skills and experiences of the students in the course with the economic and legal needs of the organization.  Proposals may be sent in MSWord as an email attachment to ericksonk@law.utah.edu, or faxed to Kristin Erickson at 801-581-6897.