Clinical Law Courses
The Law School offers several clinical courses allowing students, under the close supervision of faculty, to represent clients who present business-related issues. Students gain valuable negotiation and advocacy skills, and learn to draft legal documents and research complex business law issues.
Consumer Bankruptcy: Legal Theory and Practice focuses on consumer chapter 7 bankruptcy cases and also discusses chapter 13 bankruptcy. The class allows students to work under the close supervision of an experienced consumer bankruptcy practitioner representing low-income, pro bono individual debtors in their federal, chapter 7 bankruptcy cases before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland.
Student attorneys in the Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic represent low-income individuals who have disputes with the Internal Revenue Service, and assist them with matters before the IRS and the U.S. Tax Court.
Students in the Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Clinic advise biotech and infotech startup companies, as well as individual entrepreneurs, in connection with issues relating to patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, domain names, and other intellectual property issues, as well as a variety of business law issues.
Students in the Mediation Theory & Practice Clinic serve as mediators in real legal disputes, including civil cases in the District Court for Baltimore City, employment discrimination cases, business disputes, and community conflicts.
Students in Consumer Protection Clinic are introduced to the basic skills of law practice by mentors at the Maryland Office of Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division, where they help to investigate scams against consumers and assist in all aspects of litigation. Students learn part of the broad body of consumer law, which is an area practiced by many private and public law firms.
Transactional Law Competitions
The Business Law Program encourages and sponsors students who desire hands-on learning through transactional law competitions. These competitions frequently allow students an opportunity to draft deal documents and negotiate the terms of the deal against another law school's student team. We believe that these practice-based experiences enrich students' substantive learning and professional development.
Externships
Externships provide the opportunity for students to gain practical experience in business law by working with governmental agencies, business associations, or nonprofit organizations while earning academic credits.
Examples of externship placements include:
- Department of Business and Economic Development
- Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Federal Communications Commission
- Federal Trade Commission
- Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
- Maryland Attorney General Securities Division
- Maryland Court of Special Appeals
- Maryland Tax Court
- Office of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation of Maryland
- Securities and Exchange Commission
- U.S. Attorney’s Office
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court
- U.S. Small Business Administration
- U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
- U.S. Department of the Treasury
Students interested in a business law externship should contact Heather Terech in the Business Law Program for information about the application process, including due dates for processing credit requests. Students approved for credit must attend the accompanying tutorial sessions provided through the Business Law Program during the semester of their externship experience.