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Community Development Clinic

The FIU College of Law Community Development Clinic is an in-house clinic which offers legal counsel and transactional legal services, free of charge, to selected small businesses and non-profit organizations. The course is designed to meet two needs: to provide students interested in business law or community development with a clinical program that will teach them some of the practical and substantive problems of representing small businesses and nonprofit organizations and to offer much needed legal advice to segments of the small business community and non-profit groups in Miami-Dade County who are often unrepresented because of the high cost of legal services. Clients are represented by law students working under the supervision of faculty who are experienced legal practitioners and members of the Florida Bar.

The FIU College of Law Community Development Clinic provides advice on a range of business related legal issues including:

Contract Drafting
Contract Review & Negotiations
Lease Review and Negotiations
Entity Formation
Nonprofit Corporations
Franchise Agreements
Bylaws
Copyright and Trademark Issues
Tax Advice
Zoning Requirements
Business Licensing
Counseling on compliance with State, Local, and Federal Law
Dispute Resolution Assistance

We select cases based on a range of factors, which include:

• the client’s financial need of legal services;
• the organizations potential community benefit;
• the legal services needed in relation to the type of services we offer;

Preference is given to clients who have developed a written business plan.

If we are unable to help a client in a given semester, we may be able to place the client on a wait list so that they may be assisted the following semester.

Language:

• Se habla español

• Nou pale kreyol

 

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