Community Development Law Clinic

About the Clinic

The Community Development Law Clinic (CDL) is a two-semester clinic in which third-year students provide corporate and transactional counsel to North Carolina nonprofit community development organizations. The aim of the CDL Clinic is to help students develop skills in corporate and transactional law and, at the same time, serve the legal needs of under-resourced communities in North Carolina.

CDL students work on a wide variety of business law projects including:

• forming corporations and limited liability companies
• spinning off subsidiaries for existing nonprofit corporations
• advising organizations regarding local, state and federal taxation
• negotiating and drafting contracts on behalf of nonprofit organizations
• helping structure joint ventures between nonprofit and for-profit entities
• obtaining necessary state licenses for nonprofit programs

Students in the CDL Clinic take primary responsibility for interviewing clients about their legal needs, structuring the legal projects, negotiating on behalf of their clients and drafting all necessary legal documents. Depending on the scope of the project, students are assigned to clients individually or in teams.

Community Development Clinic Faculty:

• Associate Professor Thomas Kelley
• Professor Judith Wegner

Requirements & Registration

All CDL Clinic students meet weekly at a regularly scheduled class time to exchange information on their matters and to focus on lawyering skills such as client interviewing, counseling, and document drafting. Students also attend weekly meetings with their faculty supervisor.

Registration for the CDL Clinic is limited to third-year law students. A registration meeting for Externship and Clinical Programs is held approximately one month into the spring semester. Notices are posted throughout the Law School and placed in second-year students' mailboxes. After the registration meeting, second-year students are given several days to return the completed registration form. Please note that students may not enroll in any externship programs if enrolled in the CDL Clinic.

Students in the CDL Clinic receive 3 credits (pass/fail) for the fall semester and 3 credits (pass/fail) for the spring.

Pre- or Co-requisites

All students in the CDL Clinic must have either taken The Law of Nonprofit Organizations in their second year or be enrolled in Nonprofit Organizations in the fall of their third year. There are no other requirements, but Business Associations is recommended.

How We Get Our Cases

Organizations seeking assistance from the CDL Clinic must contact the clinic faculty supervisor directly. Each year, the supervisor will agree to represent a limited number of nonprofit organizations in legal matters that, in the supervisor's judgment, both benefit under-resourced communities and provide Carolina law students with quality educational experiences. The CDL Clinic takes on a wide variety of legal matters, but does not assist organizations with litigation.

Resources

UNC Resources:

• Center for Civil Rights 919-843-3921
• Center on Poverty, Work & Opportunity 919-843-8796
• Student Legal Services (for UNC students only) 919-962-1303

Helpful Links

• North Carolina State Bar Association (Lawyer Referral Service)
  Internal Website: http://www.ncbar.org/public/lrs/
  Phone: 1-800-662-7660 in state, 919-677-8574 for local Raleigh area and from out of state.
• Internal Revenue Service (Information and forms for federal tax exemption)
  Website: http://www.irs.gov/
• The Corporations Division of the Office of the Secretary of State of North Carolina (information and forms for incorporation and other state law matters affecting nonprofits)
  Website: http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/Corporations/
• The North Carolina Center for Nonprofit Organizations (General information about nonprofit issues)
  Website: http://www.ncnonprofits.org/

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can the Community Development Law (CDL) Clinic give my organization informal legal advice even if it does not formally accept the organization as a client?
A: No. The Clinic can only advise those organizations that it accepts as clients.

Q: Does the UNC Community Development Law (CDL) Clinic help nonprofit organizations to form?
A: Yes. Each year the CDL Clinic accepts a limited number of nonprofit start-ups.

Q: If the CDL Clinic accepts my organization's legal matter, will a fully trained, licensed attorney review all of the legal work?
A: Yes. Although third-year law students provide most of the legal services provided through the CDL Clinic, all of their work is carefully supervised and checked by the CDL faculty supervisor, who is an attorney licensed to practice law in North Carolina.

Q: Does the CDL Clinic charge money for the legal services it provides?
A: No. Once the CDL Clinic accepts a nonprofit organization as a client, it provides legal services free of charge. However, clients are responsible for paying all filing and administrative fees and other expenses associated with the representation.

Q: Once the CDL Clinic has accepted my organization as a client, will it "take care of" the matter for me so I can move on to other tasks?
A: No. The CDL Clinic will expect you and/or other representatives from your organization to work collaboratively and consistently with the Clinic. If you and your colleagues do not have time to work collaboratively with the CDL Clinic, you should not ask for its assistance.

Q: Once the CDL Clinic has accepted my organization as a client, can my organization assume that the Clinic will act as its all-purpose lawyer?
A: No. Before accepting an organization as a client, the CDL Clinic and the prospective client will agree in writing on the scope of the work to be performed by the Clinic. The CDL Clinic will not go beyond the scope of the written agreement unless the Clinic and client re-draft their agreement.

Q: Is the CDL Clinic open for business year-round?
A: No. The CDL Clinic does not operate during Carolina Law's summer break (June-August). In addition, CDL law students are not available to work during school holidays including the extended winter and spring breaks. Due to these time limitations, it is imperative that clients and CDL students agree on work schedules and stick to them.