Jointly-taught by Law School and Bloch (Business) School faculty, this interdisciplinary course provides education in entrepreneurship to a combined class of students from law, business, engineering and perhaps other graduate-level disciplines. Using a combination of readings lectures, electronic blackboard discussions, team business planning projects and presentations, and individual presentations on selected topics, the Course is designed, from a law student's perspective, to both (1) familiarize the student with substantive knowledge of issues from multiple disciplines involved in creating a new venture to commercialize technology and (2) train law students in techniques designed to effectively communicate and resolve legal issues inherent in such projects in a collaborative manner with clients and their advisors from other disciplines.

In this course, law students work in faculty-supervised project teams with students from other academic disciplines (for example, business, engineering, or science students). Student teams learn to review innovation disclosures in a systematic manner and generate information needed to assess the potential impact and viability of commercialization of those innovations. Topics addressed in the course include identification of intellectual property and steps needed to protect it, technology commercialization processes and related regulatory and licensing considerations, and various aspects of product development and preliminary business modeling for technology-based ventures.

The projects-based Entrepreneurial Urban Development course features interdisciplinary teams of faculty and graduate or upper-level undergraduate students providing analysis on real estate-based projects relating to the development or redevelopment of properties in urban areas, with a particular focus in, but not necessarily limited to, Kansas City, MO and Kansas City, KS. While working on their particular local project, students learn about development, land use controls and entitlement processes, affordable housing law and policy, cost analysis, market analysis, feasibility analysis, investment analysis, finance, incentives, design, urban planning, and community engagement.

In this “studio” course, students work in interdisciplinary teams of law and graduate students from UMKC and other graduate and professional schools. These student teams partner with media laboratories to work on cutting edge projects at intersections of law, technology and public policy.

This course focuses on building a business plan for a solo or small firm. Students learn how to identify a geographic and client market; to select a business organization and firm management structure; to set and allocate fees, income and expenses; and to market and conduct their practice effectively and ethically. Students attend the Missouri Bar Solo and Small Firm Conference to build networks, research products and processes, and present their business plans to panels of experienced attorneys.

This course provides a detailed survey of the legal requirements and the planning strategies to establish, finance and operate a social business enterprise, and to help clients choose from among non-profit tax-exempt organization, specially-tailored traditionally for-profit company, or one of the recently created “hybrid” legal forms available through business organization statutes in various—e.g., benefit corporations, social purpose corporations, and low-profit limited liability companies (L3Cs)—for the conduct of social enterprises. After an introduction to the field of social entrepreneurship, students will learn the state laws, tax laws, and financing arrangements that apply to nonprofit organizations, traditional for-profit taxable businesses, and the evolving “hybrid” forms of business organization.

A condensed study of the key legal issues for the entire cradle-to-grave (founding-to-exit transaction) life cycle of high-growth technology and life sciences ventures, focusing on these critical phases: structuring and organizing the high-growth venture; relationships with key constituencies; acquiring, protecting and licensing intellectual property assets; financing transactions and realizing wealth through exit transactions.

The course will familiarize students with the basic legal technologies necessary for the twenty-first century lawyer. Course topics include hardware, system architecture, security, practice management, productivity, the cloud, and social media-networking.

This course provides students with the opportunity to gain advanced knowledge in the software skills needed by legal practitioners, including: word processing, visual communication, cloud computing, document automation, data analytics, and project management.

Document automation and assembly can help attorneys more efficiently and accurately deliver legal services to the public and their employer--thus helping attorneys be more competitive in the legal services market place. This two-credit-hour course introduces students to the transformative world of document automation and assembly, a tool that amplifies attorneys' efficiency and precision. Students will produce programmed documents, interviews, and systems for estate planning, business planning, or such other projects as are suitable for document assembly. The course may be taught over an eight week period or a summer term. No computer programming experience is required.