SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 8, 2013 – A new law clinic focused on the needs of early-stage Silicon Valley companies will begin serving clients this summer at Santa Clara University School of Law. A veteran attorney specializing in start-up companies, Laura Lee Norris, has been named founding director of the new Entrepreneur’s Law Clinic.
Initially, the clinic will represent entrepreneurs with some connection to Santa Clara University, such as alumni or students running start-up ventures. The clinic will serve the dual purposes of providing SCU-affiliated startups with high-quality, affordable legal help, and giving SCU’s law students real-life exposure to legal issues that confront high-tech or other Silicon Valley companies.
“We are excited to launch the clinic, and we’re thrilled that a lawyer as experienced and talented as Laura will lead the way,” said Professor Eric Goldman, director of the law school’s High Tech Law Institute. “The clinic reinforces Santa Clara Law’s commitment to preparing students for legal practice in the 21st century, and the clinic will become a crucial resource for Santa Clara University’s active community of entrepreneurs.”
In addition to her role as clinic director, Norris will be an assistant clinical professor overseeing a group of law students who will work in the clinic. The students will counsel early-stage Silicon Valley entrepreneurs in legal interactions including business formation, financing, contracts, and intellectual-property transactions. Fees and other details are not yet finalized.
Norris joins Santa Clara Law from her own private legal practice, where she has represented over 50 technology start-ups and entrepreneurs in the last seven years. Before that, she served as the first vice president of legal affairs at Cypress Semiconductor. She was also an associate litigation attorney at Arnold White & Durkee, and an engineer and patent agent at Intel.
She received her J.D. from Santa Clara University, and her B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan.
“I’m excited to build this clinic,” said Norris, “The top-notch legal education I received at Santa Clara positioned me well to advance in my career as an attorney focused on tech startups. This new Entrepreneur’s Law Clinic will be a fantastic supplement to the Law School’s already-extensive high-tech curriculum.”
About Santa Clara University School of Law
Santa Clara University School of Law, founded in 1911 on the site of California’s oldest operating higher-education institution, is dedicated to educating lawyers who lead with a commitment to excellence, ethics, and social justice. One of the nation’s most diverse law schools, Santa Clara Law offers its 975 students an academically rigorous program, including graduate degrees in international law and intellectual property law; combined J.D./MBA and J.D./MSIS degrees; and certificates in intellectual property law, international law, and public interest and social justice law. Santa Clara Law is located in the world-class business center of Silicon Valley, and it is distinguished nationally for its highly regarded program in intellectual property. For more information, see law.scu.edu.
