NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 17, 2012
CONTACT: Erika Marzorati, communications manager, 517-432-6848; marzorat@law.msu.edu
MSU Law Small Business & Nonprofit Law Clinic Receives Inclusive Excellence Grant
East Lansing, MI — The Michigan State University College of Law Small Business & Nonprofit Law Clinic has received a $15,000 Creating Inclusive Excellence (CIE) Grant from the MSU Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives.
CIE grants promote efforts to enhance the values of quality, connectivity, and inclusiveness within the university’s educational and work environments.
The grant, which was received in September, provides funding through summer 2013 to expand the clinic’s ongoing Community Economic Development Inclusiveness (CEDI) Project. The clinic received a $35,000 CIE grant in 2011 to support the project, which offers legal assistance to local entrepreneurs. Project expansion areas include targeted outreach and service delivery to minority and disadvantaged entrepreneurs in Detroit and international student entrepreneurs.
“All student clinicians will receive specialized training to meet these populations’ unique needs, including instruction on cultural intelligence and immigrant-entrepreneur legal matters,” said Professor Nicole Dandridge, director of the Small Business & Nonprofit Law Clinic.
Planned project events include free legal business seminars for entrepreneurs at various locations on campus and in Detroit. The clinic’s nominal fees for direct legal services will be waived for all participating entrepreneurs during the grant period.
“Last week, we held our first CEDI project event on campus—an information session and Q-and-A opportunity for international student entrepreneurs,” said Dandridge. The clinic will post upcoming event announcements on its website and Facebook page.
The MSU Law Small Business & Nonprofit Law Clinic enhances law students’ professional development through experiential learning in the specialized transactional areas of business and nonprofit law. The clinic provides an important community service to start-up and existing small businesses and nonprofit organizations throughout the state. Student clinicians facilitate entrepreneurial empowerment by engaging in community economic development and outreach initiatives. The clinic also creates community and campus partnerships to expand resources available to Michigan small businesses and nonprofit organizations.
Michigan State University College of Law, a leading institution of legal education with a long history of educating practice-ready attorneys, prepares future lawyers to use ethics, ambition, and intellect to solve the world’s problems. Michigan State Law offers comprehensive interdisciplinary opportunities combined with a personalized legal education, and is on an upward trajectory of national and international reputation and reach. MSU Law professors are gifted teachers and distinguished scholars, its curriculum is rigorous and challenging, and its facility is equipped with the latest resources—all affirming MSU Law’s commitment to educating 21st-century lawyers.
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