UA News

A new program bringing together the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship within The University of Arizona's Eller College of Management and the James E. Rogers College of Law promises multiple benefits to students preparing for the 21st century knowledge economy. As entrepreneurial activity is pushed to the forefront of economic development, legal issues, including the protection of intellectual property, have become a critical focus of legal and entrepreneurial discussions. It is expected that this partnership will have a far-reaching impact.

With startup funding from the Kansas City, Mo. based Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, students from four areas of the law school — intellectual property, entrepreneurial law, corporate law, and tax law — will create a mock law firm. The firm will serve as mock counsel to venture teams from the McGuire Entrepreneurship Program.

Entrepreneurship students will learn how to engage the legal community throughout all stages of venture planning. They will develop an understanding of the common legal issues surrounding new ventures, including intellectual property, early in the venture planning life. In addition to other elements of the venture plan (financials, marketing, etc), these students will be prepared to plan strategically, operationally, and financially for intellectual property (IP) and other relevant legal issues.

"Law students will gain practical experience counseling clients involved in simulated start-up ventures. They'll learn how to apply their legal skills and knowledge in a context that requires them to integrate their knowledge from multiple areas of law (corporate, tax, IP, securities); and they'll develop the substantive legal and business knowledge and skills needed to work with entrepreneurs and start-up companies," explains Sherry Hoskinson, director of the McGuire Center.

Launched this summer, the partnership goes beyond existing models. "Many law schools currently use the law clinic model, where students serve the local small business community in a limited capacity. This model has a number of benefits, but we believe that our model provides a unique alternative. For example, it provides broad experiential learning opportunities, the opportunity for longer-term engagement between a legal team and a venture team, and a different type of emerging business with perhaps a higher level of sophistication, including technology innovation," said Darian Ibrahim, associate professor in the Rogers College of Law.

Hoskinson and law professors David Adelman and Ibrahim see the partnership between the McGuire Center and College of Law as just the beginning, with opportunities that extend beyond teaching into research. "A rich economic literature exists on the relationship between IP law and fostering innovation," Adelman points out. "There could be much greater crossover between work on IP policy and the economic and legal work examining small businesses and innovation. Our collaboration with the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship affords us a unique opportunity to pursue research that spans these fields."

Ibrahim, who has been working with other legal scholars around the country to stimulate growth in the area of law and entrepreneurship, said, "There isn't all that much interdisciplinary work in this area, but interest is building among scholars. I feel like we're on the precipice of something that's really about to take off."

For 22 years, the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship at The University of Arizona has been a nationally recognized leader in collegiate and graduate entrepreneurship education. Among the first such programs in the country, the Center has been a pioneer in the highly dynamic and innovative entrepreneurship discipline with initiatives that have helped to define this explosive industry. U.S. News & World Report ranks the program 7th among undergraduate and 17th among graduate entrepreneurship programs nationally. Entrepreneur magazine, the only ranking that evaluates entrepreneurship exclusively, ranks the program #2 in the nation.

The James E. Rogers College of Law at The University of Arizona is a nationally prominent law school known for both its rigorous core curriculum and innovative programs that address emerging areas of law. Small and collegial by design, the College draws from the top 15% of the national applicant pool for its 450-student J.D. program. The Rogers College ranks in the top tier of law schools nationally, and has earned further recognition for faculty productivity, affordability and value, and diversity. As Arizona's first law school, the College has a 90-year legacy of cultivating professional and community leadership, and has launched more than 6,000 successful lives in the law.

The Eller College of Management at The University of Arizona is internationally recognized for pioneering research, innovative curriculum, distinguished faculty, excellence in entrepreneurship and social responsibility, and its top-five MIS program. Forbes ranks the Eller MBA full-time program among the top 50 nationwide, and the College leads the nation's business schools in generating grant funds for research. In addition to a full-time MBA program, the Eller College offers an evening MBA program, the Eller Executive MBA, and the ability to combine an MBA with graduate studies in science, engineering, law, pharmacy, finance, MIS, international management, and entrepreneurship. The Eller College of Management supports more than 4,500 undergraduate and 600 graduate students on the UA campus in Tucson, Ariz.