News

The Columbia Entrepreneurship Startup Law Studio Convenes

October 13, 2016

Columbia Entrepreneurship Gathered Columbia Founders, Columbia Law Students and the Emerging Companies team of Perkins Coie Together for the
First Law Studio Office Hours

After beta-testing the concept in the Spring of 2016 Columbia Entrepreneurship announced the launch of Columbia Entrepreneurship Startup Law Studio sponsored by Perkins Coie.  This new program offers Columbia founders the opportunity to receive pro-bono legal advice from the Emerging Companies team of Perkins Coie, headed up by long-time Columbia law mentor  and Perkins Coie partner Charles Torres, Esq.

“The Startup Studio office hours are a great way to bring together students from all walks of campus.  It’s really helping to create a solid foundation for the entrepreneurial community within Columbia. As a law student, it was great to get an up close look at the inner workings of emerging company practice.”
— Ophir Gam ’18LAW 

Perkins Coie attorneys Sarah Davis and Jeffrey Silberman joined Charles Torres at the October 13th session.  Four Columbia Law Students were on hand to observe, learn, and participate in an instructional session afterwards.

startup law studio first cohort copy

Each participating Columbia founder received a full 30-minute consultation about their various startup law questions having to do with their new venture. Topics ranged from basic incorporation and trademarking questions to the vicissitudes of founders agreements, vesting nuances, AI/Machine learning SaaS contracts with industry, to hiring arrangements, confidentiality agreements and more.

Thank you all so much for your time and for lending your expertise, not just to me but also others out there that you advise and help. What you and Columbia Entrepreneurship Director David Lerner do for struggling entrepreneurs like myself is really awesome. Chatting with you provided clarity on how to proceed – a RoadMap.
— Clynton Kakai ’17BUS

After meeting with various Columbia founders in the 30 minute sessions, the attorneys from Perkins Coie and Columbia Entrepreneurship Director Dave Lerner led a post-mortem in which the Columbia law students asked questions, shared insights, and generally learned about the nuances of practicing “venture law”.

“As a technical founder, it’s easy to make legal mistakes early on that may cause huge headaches down the line. Attending a Startup Law Studio session and getting incredible feedback from seasoned lawyers was extremely comforting. This is an enormous service for the Columbia startup community!”
                                                — Berk Birand, PhD

Our next session is scheduled for Wednesday, December 7th from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm on the Morningside campus. If interested please apply for the session, reach out to cm3014@columbia with your request.

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