Tech Edge Certificate Requirements

Effective starting with the 2024-25 Academic Year

A TEJD certificate candidate must satisfy the following requirements:

  1. Graduation Application
  2. Orientation
  3. Career Plan
  4. Mentor Meetings
  5. Law School Advisor Meetings
  6. Entrepreneurs’ Law Clinic
  7. Externships
  8. Milestone Experiences
  1. Graduation Application. A candidate must submit documentation evidencing completion of the certificate requirements listed below.
  2. Orientation. A TEJD candidate must attend an orientation session before 1L year, where careers in technology law will be explored. TEJD students must also attend the “regular” law school orientation. The in-person orientation session will be the week of the regular orientation to minimize the travel burden on out-of-state students and FlexJD students. For FlexJD students, the TechEdge orientation may be done virtually or by appointment with the TEJD Program Director.
  3. Career Plan. A TEJD candidate must write a career plan and share the plan with their advisor within the first semester of 1L year. The plan must be revised and updated yearly. A candidate must also meet at least once each year with a career advisor from the Office of Career Management (OCM) to discuss career options. Each iteration of the career plan should include: (a) a statement of career goals; (b) a summary of networking/market research activities during the past year and plans for networking/market research activities during the coming year; (c) a summary of any work experience over the past year, or planned for the following year, for which the student did not receive academic credit, as well how that work has or will contribute to the student’s career goals; (d) an explanation of how experiential learning activities completed during the past year, or planned for the next year, have contributed or will contribute toward the student’s career goals; (e) an explanation of how milestones completed during the past year, or planned for the next year, have contributed or will contribute toward the student’s career goals.
  4. Mentor Meetings. A candidate will be assigned two (2) attorney mentors. The candidate should meet with each mentor at least 2 times per year (for a total of 4 mentor meetings per year), but a minimum of one meeting per mentor per year is required to satisfy the TEJD certificate requirement.
  5. Law School Advisor Meetings. A candidate will be assigned one (1) law school advisor, which may be either a faculty or staff member. The candidate must meet with the advisor at least once in the fall semester and once in the spring semester. The advisor will review the student’s progress toward graduation and the TEJD certificate requirements.
  6. Clinic. A TEJD candidate must take the Entrepreneurs’ Law Clinic (or another 3 or more credits per semester clinic offered at Santa Clara Law with their advisor’s prior approval). The clinic selected should ideally relate to the candidate’s career plan.
  7. Externships. A TEJD candidate must complete two (2) Externships of 3+ or more credits each relating to the student’s career plan. The externships cannot be completed in the same semester unless approved by the Program Director,  Internships may substitute for externships only if approved by the Program Director.
  8. Milestone Experiences. TEJD students acquire valuable professional skills by completing milestones, not just specific courses. To earn the certificate, the candidate must complete a total of at least six (6) of the milestone activities listed below, consisting of 2 core milestones and any other 4 of the remaining elective milestones. To earn the certificate with “honors,” the candidate must complete a total of at least nine (9) of the milestone activities listed below, including all Core Milestones and at least one of either the Paper Publication or the Professional Certification milestone. Core Milestones are identified in the milestone table below. From time to time, the Program Director may distribute a list of pre-approved courses or extra-curricular activities that have been verified to meet a TEJD milestone; but students routinely fulfill most milestones outside of for-credit courses. For all other milestones, it is the Program Director’s responsibility to determine if the student has completed the milestone. Program requirements (including but not limited to the milestones) will be tracked by the Program Manager via an online tool  (Camino). Students will be responsible for submitting proof of completion of the milestone to Camino. Ideally, students will coordinate with advisors in advance of taking a course or participating in an activity, to ensure that the course or activity will satisfy the milestone. However, that will not always be possible (e.g. if a student completes a milestone while working in an externship). The following is a list of the milestones, which the TEJD Program Director has the authority to modify from time to time.  In addition, the TEJD Program Director may reject or approve an experience to satisfy a milestone. From time to time, companies posting an externship opportunity may indicate that a student can obtain a TEJD milestone through the externship. This does not relieve the student of the responsibility to prove that the milestone was satisfied in the externship.
  1. CORE MILESTONE: Market Research – Engage in meaningful market research with legal professionals, e.g. through informational interviews.
  2. CORE MILESTONE: Presentation to Decision-Makers – Present a set of risks or options, with a recommendation, to decision-makers.
  3. Transaction drafting and negotiation (or litigating a transaction) – Draft and negotiate a transaction (or litigate a transaction) relating to the student’s desired career path, as evidenced by a career plan.
  4. Cross-disciplinary team – Work on a cross-disciplinary team that includes businesspeople, creatives, and/or engineers.
  5. Silicon Valley Norms and Lingo & Technology Development – Learn about the Silicon Valley’s business norms and practices (including start-ups, financings, M&A, licensing, employment practices, cash and stock compensation, Silicon Valley lingo, Silicon valley culture), basic technology concepts and ways new technologies are developed, commercialized, and distributed.
  6. Financial Literacy – Work with modeling cash flow projections or analyzing financial statements.
  7. Leadership – Hold a position (volunteer, officer or committee) in a law-related organization and describe an exemplary or effective leadership experience you had during a specific project.
  8. Advocacy – Advocate for a client, either as part of a simulation or as a part of an externship/internship, ideally related to your career plan.
  9. Legal Technology Literacy – Work with legal technology that is new to you (such as learning to code, or using tools for knowledge management, data analytics, machine learning, or predictive analytics).
  10. Paper Publication – Publish a paper of at least 500 words relating to technology and law in a publication lawyers are likely to read. Students who wish to meet this milestone will need to first meet with the Program Director for paper topic and publication approval. From time to time, the Program Director may distribute a list of pre-approved publications that have been verified to meet this milestone. Qualifying publications will be approved by the Program Director. Company blogs usually will not qualify. Students should keep in mind the risks of lengthy publication cycles when planning this milestone.
  11. Professional Certification – Obtain a designated third-party professional certification in technology, business, and/or law during law school (students may not count any certifications obtained before matriculating in law school). Ideally, the certification will be related to the student’s career plan. From time to time, the Program Director may distribute a list of approved certifications and students can petition the Program Director for approval of a certification not on the list.

 

Other Details:

All certificate requirements must be completed before the candidate’s graduation date. Students cannot earn both the TEJD certificate and another certificate.

The Program Director may terminate a student’s participation in the TEJD program if the Program Director (in their sole discretion) believes that the program may jeopardize the student’s completion of graduation requirements and/or bar passage.

A student must apply to the TEJD program as a part of their law school application process and may not be added to the TEJD program after orientation because those students will not have an opportunity to complete crucial elements of the program.

The Program Director has the authority to waive or allow make-up opportunities for certificate requirements. Waivers and make-up opportunities are rarely granted and will generally only be granted for exceptional circumstances. TEJD candidates may opt out of the program at any time. A student who has opted out will not be eligible for re-entry into the program.