The Osgoode Business Clinic (OBC) combines education and service in the study of business law. Each year the Clinic provides advice to, and prepares legal documentation for, a small number of clients who are establishing and operating a small business enterprise and cannot otherwise afford professional legal services. The Clinic provides students with practical legal skills to assist individuals starting small business enterprises. The objective is to fuse students’ doctrinal education in commercial law with experiential training thereby providing a holistic educative experience.
What You Will Do
The Clinic provides you the opportunity, under the expert supervision of lawyers at Stikeman Elliott LLP, to work with small business or small enterprise clients. The files you will work on involve providing basic but typical legal advice and documents (i.e. incorporation, drafting sales contracts, subcontracts). You will interview clients, determine needs, fix priorities, advise, take instructions, and draft various commercial contracts or incorporation documents and procedures. As a student in the OBC, you will be concurrently enrolled in the Case Studies in Business Enterprises seminar. In the seminar you will have the chance to explore the substantive law issues commonly encountered in the creation and operation of small business enterprises, and related business topics. The seminar utilizes active learning modules including role-plays, simulated exercises, and work in small groups to explore legal and business issues encountered by small business clients.
What You Will Learn
- client interviewing skills
- case management skills
- contract drafting skills
- negotiation skills
- the law and regulatory environment relevant to the creation and running of the small business enterprise
- to work collaboratively with a team of 2-3 students
- professional norms and responsibilities governing lawyers’ work
Program Director
Professor Stephanie Ben-Ishai
