AT THE INTERSECTION OF LAW, BUSINESS, AND INNOVATION
JD/LLM in Law and Entrepreneurship
The JD/LLM in Law and Entrepreneurship at Duke Law integrates rigorous course work, real-world experience, and high-level networking opportunities to position you to advise, create, and lead the innovative ventures that will drive tomorrow’s global economy. Entrepreneurs and innovators do things differently. This program will help you develop the specialized legal knowledge and professional skills you need to counsel leaders and participate as a principal in the innovation economy. By fusing law and business, Duke’s Law and Entrepreneurship Program builds knowledge in areas that are crucial to entrepreneurial ventures and instills a deep understanding of what it means to create and advise an entrepreneurial business. You’ll learn how innovators approach business problems – adding value to both your skill set and your résumé.
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Photo by: Chris Barron/Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau
When you combine a top-flight university with talent from the medical school, business school, and law school — and then add the innovation happening at Duke, in the Research Triangle, and in Durham — you get a really exciting and dynamic place to work. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Erika Buell, Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Program in Law & Entrepreneurship, was in-house counsel at Revolution Money before joining the Duke faculty to teach in the Law and Entrepreneurship Program. 2
Entrepreneurship at Duke The DU K E INNO V ATIO N A ND E NTRE PRE NE U RS HIP INITIATIV E
THE DUKE ADVANTAGE
Known for interdisciplinary strength, faculty who are leaders in their fields, and ambitious research, Duke is home to leading programs in business, finance, and tax law, intellectual property law, environmental law, and public law. And the university’s strong ties with institutions in the
WHY DUKE, WHY NOW
works in partnership with students, faculty, staff, and alumni to turn ideas into action that can impact lives. I&E serves as a hub and resource center across the Duke innovation system, connecting innovators to education, mentoring, resources, community, and intellectual leadership. The DU K E A NGE L NE TWO RK actively engages and matches Duke alumni network expertise with portfolio companies to support growth and success. In interdisciplinary teams, students receive academic credit while they work on entrepreneurial ventures through a structured process. From understanding the opportunity to developing the core elements of a strategy for a technology or business idea, the New Ventures courses serve as a foundation for a first operating plan for the company. NE W V E NTU RE S :
THE DUKE GLOBAL ENTREPRENEUR NE TWO RK ,
Research Triangle and relationships with alumni and business leaders who are successful entrepreneurs and mentors are the foundations for a dynamic learning and teaching environment. The Law and Entrepreneurship Program builds on — and adds
also known as DukeGEN, is an active network of approximately 8,000 Duke alumni, students, staff, and faculty interested in entrepreneurship. The DU K E S TA RTU P C HA L L E NGE is a student community that follows a year-long process involving changing one’s mindset, identifying opportunities, and developing solutions. The top teams are invited to participate in a summer accelerator hosted in Durham. There’s over $50,000 available in funding for Duke student-led teams.
to — these strengths. IN N OVAT I ON I N T H E TR I ANG L E
North Carolina’s Research Triangle area is widely recognized as a global hub of innovation. Since its inception, the Research Triangle Park (RTP) has been home to some of the brightest minds at the forefront of science, technology, and business. Today, entrepreneurs regularly gather here for programs such as the Innovation in RTP speaker series and the Governor’s Entrepreneurship Summit, where entrepreneurs and leaders from across the state meet to brainstorm new products and services that will create jobs and boost growth. Just a mile from Duke in the heart of downtown Durham is American Underground. This award-winning historic district is home to some of the most influential and instrumental start-ups, incubators, and thought leaders in the Southeast. American Underground is one of the Google for Startups hubs which aims to bring people together, connect them with others, and help launch great startups. 3
The JD/LLM in Law and Entrepreneurship is a three-year dual-degree program that enhances the esteemed JD curriculum. The program provides students with a deep understanding of historical and current perspectives on entrepreneurship and the law, as well as the ability to understand the business, institutional, and strategic considerations applicable to entrepreneurs.
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JD/LLM IN LAW AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Duke Law JD/LLMLE students complete the requirements for both the JD degree and the LLM degree in Law & Entrepreneurship in just three years, plus one summer, earning 87 credits for the JD and 24 for the LLMLE. Because up to 10 credits of relevant coursework may be counted towards both degrees, students will generally earn a total of 101 credits. JD/LLM students take Business Associations during their first year, establishing academic and professional credentials that further supplement the already rigorous first-year preparation. As upper-level students, they will gain practical skills by participating in either the practicum or the Start-Up Ventures Clinic.
S TART-U P V E NTU RE S C L INIC
The JD/LLMLE program is enhanced by guaranteed enrollment in the Duke Law School Start-Up Ventures Clinic during the 3L year. Students provide legal advice and assistance to seed- and earlystage entrepreneurial ventures that have not yet raised significant amounts of outside capital. The clinic assists clients in a wide variety of legal matters, including formation, intellectual property protection, commercialization strategies, and operational issues. “ The Start-Up Ventures Clinic has been the best course experience I’ve had at Duke Law School,” says Maddy Strahl JD/LLMLE ’21, now an associate in the emerging companies group at Wyrick Robbins. “Working in the clinic, you learn how to communicate directly with clients and help them solve problems they didn’t even know they had. I loved helping young businesses in my community, and the experience has better prepared me to start my career.”
THE JD/LLMLE
J D /LLM LE D EG REE R E Q U I R E ME NTS
First-Year Requirements
J D / L L ML E C U R R IC U L U M
Business Associations
Entrepreneurship & the Law
Additional JD/LLMLE Requirements
Civil Procedure
Analytical Methods
PO S T-1L S U MME R:
Constitutional Law
Securities Regulation
Contracts
Business Strategy for Lawyers
Criminal Law
Venture Capital Financing or Corporate Finance
Foundations of Law Legal Analysis, Research & Writing
Advising the Entrepreneurial Client
Torts J D / L L ML E E L E C T IV E S
Second-Year Requirements Intellectual Property Property
J D CU RRI CU LU M REQ U I R E ME NTS
Legal Ethics (at least 2 credits) JD Upper-Level Writing (2 credits) Experiential Learning Requirement (6 credits)
Students are encouraged to select electives to complement the LLMLE curriculum from an array of pre-approved courses, including Federal Income Tax, Structuring VC Transactions, and Patent Law and Policy.
Students will experience a unique academic and start-up immersion component in a start-up hub in the United States. Students attend Wintersession all three years, taking courses focusing on innovation and entrepreneurship, such as, The Way It All Works, Counseling and Creating and Entity, and Current Issues in Entrepreneurship. WINTE RS E S S IO N:
Students may participate in a non-law firm externship at a local start-up company, Duke Angel Network, or other business in conjunction with an academic course. PRA C TIC U M:
S TA RT-U P V E NTU RE S C L INIC :
Students may participate in the clinic during fall or spring of 3L year. 5
Arti Rai is co-director of the Center for Innovation Policy, which brings together legal professionals, technology and business leaders, government officials, and academic experts to identify improvements to federal law and policy that will promote innovation and economic growth.
LAW AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP FACULTY
D I RECT O R O F TH E P R O G R AM I N
L A WRE NC E B A XTE R
LA W A N D E NTR E P R E NE U R S H I P
David T. Zhang Professor of the Practice of Law and Faculty Director, Global Financial Markets Center
ERI KA J . S . B U E L L
Clinical Professor of Law Practitioner with expertise in entrepreneurial business. Served as in-house corporate counsel for Revolution Money, leading the company’s early preferred stock financings through its sale in 2010 to American Express.
EM I LI E AG U I R R E
Associate Professor of Law Business law scholar whose research focuses on companies pursuing both social purpose and profit.
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Expert in domestic and international bank regulation. Former special counsel for strategic development, corporate executive vice president, founder of emerging businesses and insurance group and eBusiness group at Wachovia.
S TU A RT B E NJA MIN
Douglas B. Maggs Chair in Law; Associate Dean for Research; Co-Director of the Center for Innovation Policy Expert in telecommunications law and innovation policy. Recently served as the Federal Communications Commission’s first Distinguished Scholar in Residence studying spectrum policy and the First Amendment.
J A M ES C O X
PA U L HA A GE N
Brainerd Currie Professor of Law
Professor of Law
Expert in corporate and securities law, market regulation, corporate governance, insider trading, class actions, and market reform issues. Member of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Credit Rating Agency Task Force. Serves as faculty director for the LLMLE program.
Expert in contracts, jurisdiction, arbitration, and sports law. Co-directs the Duke Center for Sports and the Law and chairs Duke University’s Student Athlete Counseling Committee and Duke’s China Faculty Council.
K IP JO HNS O N ’94 J OH N D E F I G U E I R E D O
Russell M. Robinson II Professor of Law, Strategy, and Economics Expert in competitive strategy, political and legal strategy, law and economics, and the management of innovation. Previously was professor of strategic management at the UCLA Anderson School of Business.
G I N A - G A I L F L E TC H E R
Professor of Law Scholar of complex financial instruments and market regulation, focusing on the interplay of public regulation and private ordering in enhancing market stability and integrity. ELI S A B ET H D . D E F O NTE NAY
Professor of Law Expert in corporate law and corporate finance. Research agenda focuses on how market actors behave in the less-regulated spaces of the financial markets.
A N D REW F O S TE R
Clinical Professor of Law and Director, Community Enterprise Clinic Supervises the Community Enterprise Clinic and oversees Duke Law’s Clinical Program. Previously practiced law with Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice. Expert in social entrepreneurship and community development.
Senior Lecturing Fellow Founding partner of Morningstar Law Group, where he specializes in securities and technology law, working with clients from seed-stage start-ups to mature operating companies.
B RYA N MC GA NN
Clinical Professor of Law and Director, Start-Up Ventures Clinic Supervises the Start-Up Ventures Clinic, providing legal advice and assistance to seed- and earlystage entrepreneurial ventures in a wide variety of legal matters including formation, intellectual property protection, commercialization strategies, and operational issues.
A RTI RA I
Elvin R. Latty Professor of Law and Faculty Director, the Center for Innovation Policy Expert in patent law, administrative law, the biopharmaceutical industry, and health care regulation. Senior advisor on innovation-related law and policy issues to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of General Counsel.
JE FF WA RD ’09
Associate Dean for Technology and Innovation; Clinical Professor of Law; Director, Duke Center on Law & Technology Focuses on the law and policy of emerging technologies, the future of lawyering, and the socio-economic effects of rapid technological change.
More faculty at law.duke.edu/fac
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THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE COLLABORATIVE, PROFESSIONAL
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One of the defining features of the Law and Entrepreneurship Program is the focus on professional development and collaboration. Whether you are working with a team on a class project, discussing a work assignment for your practicum, or taking advantage of networking opportunities in the community, you will develop the ability to work efficiently and productively with others as you solve problems and move your projects forward.
S U MME R I MME R S I O N
After their first year, JD/LLMLE students enroll in Entrepreneurship Immersion. The first four weeks involve a course here in Durham. In week five, students venture to a technology hub in the United States. In the past, students have visited Silicon Valley in person and other cities remotely to meet with investors, law firms with entrepreneurial practices, and Duke alumni at innovative companies like IDEO, Box, Google, NYDIG, and Square. W O R K AND C AR E E R S
Cooley
Thanks to the LLMLE program’s emphasis on professional skills development, graduates are well prepared for high-level legal practice — and employers know it. Graduates of the Program in Law and Entrepreneurship have found work in firms and organizations around the country, including:
Davis Polk & Wardwell Fenwick Goodwin & West Latham & Watkins Linklaters Morrison & Foerster Perkins Cole Wilson Sonsini
OP EN I N G N E W D O O R S
“The JD/LLMLE program has definitely opened doors for me that I wouldn’t have otherwise known about, let alone entered. Through the immersion program I got connected with a health IT company in a Durham-based accelerator. The experience exposed me to interesting legal and business issues that emerging companies face on a practical level, and more importantly, introduced me to many of the really interesting folks in the impressive Triangle entrepreneurial community.”
Rose McKinley JD/LLMLE ’17, is senior counsel, corporate and securities, at Unity Technologies in Palo Alto, Calif. She spent her 1L summer working as a clerk for the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco and an intern for ELXR Health in Durham.
T H I N KI N G LI K E AN E NTR E P R E NE U R
“One thing you’ll hear from a lot of different people is law school teaches you how to think like a lawyer. The joint degree program allows me to do that and then some. It also taught me to think like an entrepreneur. [All the experiences] I’ve had here have helped shape that entrepreneurial perspective. I think that’s something that’s essential, not only for a career in the law but for any career nowadays, companies are thinking entrepreneurially and that’s just what you need to do to succeed.”
Trevor Kiviat JD/LLMLE ’16 graduated summa cum laude from Syracuse University and participated in Teach for America prior to coming to Duke. He is senior counsel at NYDIG in New York.
G ET T I N G A H E AD S TAR T
“I really think the JD/LLMLE program gave me an amazing head start. I was able to show my worth which is that I have this financial literacy and I’m able to work with small, entrepreneurial clients, which will translate to being able to work with large companies as well.”
Dyna Zekaoui JD/LLMLE’16, is a business advisor at Fasken in Toronto. She spent her 2L summer at Linklaters in London, where she worked following graduation.
LEA RN I N G V AL U AB L E L E S S O NS
“The Law & Entrepreneurship Program is already paying off for me in my practice. The heavy emphasis on practical coursework allowed me to hit the ground running by introducing me to concepts, lingo, and transaction documents that I otherwise may not have seen until a few years out of school. Specifically, I’ve used lessons learned in Kip Johnson’s Venture Capital Financing class several times in just a few short months!”
Jay Preston JD/LLMLE’19, spent his 2L summer at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in Philadelphia, where he is now an associate.
See videos, bios, and much more at law.duke.edu/LLMLE
Program in Law and Entrepreneurship Duke University School of Law 210 Science Drive Duke Box 90360 Durham NC 27708-0360 (919) 613-7259 llmle@law.duke.edu