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.Â
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. Â
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.Â
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.Â
Proposals may be sent in MSWord as an email attachment to ericksonk@law.utah.edu, or faxed to Kristin Erickson at 801-581-6897.Â