Student practitioners in the Transactional Clinic will provide legal support and services in a wide range of transactional (i.e. non-litigious) matters facing small businesses, creatives, and nonprofits. Students will have the opportunity to counsel clients on a range of transactional law matters, such as business entity formation, nonprofit formations, applications for tax-exempt status, copyright matters, and contract drafting and negotiations. Students can expect to gain hands-on experience in conducting interviews, negotiating with counterparties, drafting transactional documents, oral advocacy, and legal research and writing.
The clinic is appropriate for students interested in any practice of law, but may be of particular interest to students who want to work on the transactional side of business, non-profit, and/or entertainment law. The types of clients vary, but will predominantly include individuals and businesses from the Greater Boston Area who are in the early years of their business ventures. They may include social entrepreneurs, creatives in the music and film industries, mom and pop shops, and student-led start-ups, as well as returning citizens working to break the cycle of poverty and mass incarceration.
This is a full-year clinic offered for 10 credits. Students will receive a separate letter grades at the end of the year for the seminar (4 credits) and the clinic work (6 credits). The clinic is open to both day and evening students in their last two (2) years of law school and Accelerated JD students in their last year. The Transactional Clinic provides legal services to entrepreneurs, small businesses and nonprofit clients in the Greater Boston area.
Time commitment: The clinic includes a two-hour per week seminar. The seminar will focus on preparation for direct client representation and discussions on entrepreneurship (for and non-profit and hybrid models), including transactional law's role in both creating and disrupting obstacles to economic opportunity. The case work in the Transactional Clinic requires a minimum of 13 hours per week outside of class and supervision meetings. Depending on the needs of clients, students may have client meetings and presentations in the evenings.
Accepted students must have successfully completed or be concurrently enrolled in Evidence, as such is required to be certified as a Supreme Judicial Court's Student Practitioner, pursuant to SJC Rule 3:03. There are no other prerequisites or corequisites to participate in the Transactional Law Clinic, although Business Entity Fundamentals (prior to or concurrently with the Clinic) is recommended. Prior experience is welcome (but not required) in nonprofits, small business, social enterprise, or tax.
Assistant Professor Carmen Halford will lead the Clinic starting in July of 2026. In the meantime, please contact Director of Clinical Programs Christina Miller with questions.