Guide Coverage
This guide has been developed to support students in the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic. The Clinic's students—along with pro bono attorneys and business advisers—provide critical early stage legal and business counseling to technology entrepreneurs, small business owners, social entrepreneurs, nonprofits and University of Washington and Institute for Translational Health Sciences faculty researchers.
Unlike, say, contract law, tort law, or criminal law, there's not a commonly shared sense of "entrepreneurial law." You can't pick up a study aid that surveys the area. That's because the law needed to support start-ups and small businesses draws from many substantive areas of law, and uses a variety of skills, such as drafting and counseling.
Common areas of law:
- business organizations
- tax
- intellectual property
Of course, to advise some entrepreneurs, you might need to investigate other areas of law—e.g., international trade or liquor control law. This guide doesn't pretend to cover everything that might come up!
Tips
If you're not familiar with an area, look for overviews.
- A Nutshell, Hornbook, or other study aid (e.g., on West Academic) can introduce you to important concepts, leading cases, important statutes.
- Look for jurisdiction-specific practice manuals--e.g., Washington Practice (Westlaw), Washington treatises on Lexis, or WSBA deskbooks (Lexis, Fastcase, Casemaker).
Use government websites to find guidance and forms.
- Want to register a corporation with the Washington Secretary of State? Check out https://www.sos.wa.gov/corps/.
- Want to find IRS guidance on tax-exempt organizations? Visit https://www.irs.gov/charities-and-nonprofits.
- See government sections of Washington State Business Resources and Federal and National Business Resources, below.
Use practical guidance sections of online services to find checklists, tips, and overviews.
- Practical Guidance [Bloomberg Law]"step-by-step and topical guidance on specific transactions, compliance issues, the litigation process, and other issues."
- Practical Guidance [Lexis]"practice notes, checklists, annotated forms, and leading insights from industry practitioners."
- Practical Law [Westlaw]Overviews, sample documents, checklists.
Research Guides
Research guides are compiled by librarians or subject specialists. They gather relevant resources for you to make your research more successful. In addition to this guide, you might find the following useful.
- Business [UW Libraries]Guide to researching businesses and articles about business topics.
- Community Development and Entrepreneurship Clinic [Seattle University Law Library]Guide developed for Seattle U's clinic. Sections include: Federal Resources; Washington Resources; Business and Market Research; Business Treatises & Forms; Business Plans; Evaluating Sources
- Employment & Labor Law Research [Gallagher Law Library]Includes employment, labor, and employment discrimination.
- Intellectual Property Research [Gallagher Law Library]Includes patent law, copyright law, trademark law, trade secrets law, with a section on foreign and international IP.
- Washington Practice MaterialsDeskbooks, Washington Practice, court rules, etc.
Graphic: Rand, McNally & Co's Handy Guide to Washington (1890s). J. Thomson Willing, 1860-1947, artist. Source: Library of Congress.