NE North Dakota News

The University of North Dakota (UND) School of Law and the UND Center for Innovation have joined forces to provide legal assistance to small businesses, entrepreneurs, and non-profits. This new initiative, named the Business & Non-Profit Law Clinic, will be led by Paul Traynor, an assistant professor of law, and Tyler Leverington, an attorney at Ohnstad Twichell, P.C., who also serves as a part-time instructor at the UND School of Law.

The clinic aims to offer free transactional legal services to entities that cannot afford such services otherwise. It will cover areas such as contract drafting, explaining legal rules, selecting legal structures, obtaining 501(c)(3) status, among other projects. While services are complimentary for accepted clients, they will need to cover any court filing fees themselves. If certain projects cannot be taken on by the clinic, efforts will be made to refer clients to other legal counsel.

Amy Whitney, director of the Center for Innovation at UND, highlighted the educational benefits of this initiative: “The clinic is an exciting experiential learning opportunity for law school students to learn about startup legal questions and processes as founders work to launch new business opportunities.”

Students from the second or third year at UND School of Law who have completed or are enrolled in the Business Associations class will staff the clinic under supervision. The number of students participating each semester will vary based on applications received and workload demands. Interested students should submit a letter of interest along with their resume and academic transcript to Assistant Professor Paul Traynor for consideration.