NYU Law is training the next generation of lawyers who will work in and shape the emerging field of law and social entrepreneurship, thereby bridging its widely renowned programs in law and business and in public interest law.
NYU Law is expanding its curricular offerings to incorporate more themes of social entrepreneurship. Students interested in the field can combine more traditional training in corporate, securities, and tax law with specialized courses, like Law & Business of Social Entrepreneurship, Negotiating Impact Investment Transactions, and Financing Development, and reading groups focused on community development, microfinance, and impact investing, among others.
The Center also is supporting the expansion and deepening of NYU Law’s current business clinical offerings that provide students with an opportunity to engage directly in the representation of social entrepreneurs and impact investors:
- International Transactions Clinic (ITC): Launched by Professor Deborah Burand in the fall of 2015, the International Law Transactions Clinic offers students the opportunity to provide legal services to clients that are conducting cross-border transactions in emerging markets. The bulk of the ITC’s clients include social enterprises and impact investors. The clinic includes a fieldwork component that allows students to receive hands-on training from practicing attorneys. Another component of the clinic involves students meeting in a seminar twice a week for two hours. In these seminar meetings, the ITC concentrates on teaching students skills that are critically important to their professional development as they enter into practice areas that involve international transactions. For further information, visit the ITC's website. Download the ITC 2020-2021 annual report here (PDF: 240.31 KB).
- Business Transactions Clinic (BTC): The BTC provides free business and transactional legal services to nonprofit organizations, social enterprises, and under-resourced entrepreneurs and small businesses that operate in areas of concern to the public. With supervision and guidance from Director Naveen Thomas and Associate Director Jillian Schroeder-Fenlon, students interview and counsel clients regarding transactions and business relationships, perform legal research and due diligence, and draft, review, and negotiate contracts and other legal documents. The BTC includes a weekly two-hour seminar, which trains students in the knowledge and skills that business lawyers need, both within the clinic and beyond. For further information, see the BTC's website and read its brochure.