Supporting small businesses in BC since 1998
Staffed by upper year students at the University of Victoria Faculty of Law, the Business Law Clinic (“BLC”) provides legal research on topics related to corporate law for entrepreneurs, community organizations, and small businesses in the community.
Founded in 1998, the BLC is a course offered through the University of Victoria Faculty of Law in which students work directly with clients to conduct research addressing challenges with business law dimensions. Research areas include (but are not limited to): contract law, corporate and commercial transactions, business associations, small business operations, non-profit management, employment and labour standards, intellectual property, import/export issues.
Students in the Business Law Clinic are not lawyers and are not licensed to give legal advice. Students can only provide research and information about issues relating to business planning and operations.
Contact
➤ LOCATION
University of Victoria
Faculty of Law
Fraser Building
Victoria, BC V8P 5C2
☎ CONTACT
blc@uvic.ca
(250) 472-4522
Areas of Practice
Business Associations
From incorporation to charitable registration, BLC students can help you understand the differences between various forms of business associations, the pros and cons of each, and how businesses manage liability. Students can offer research around name registration, shareholders agreements, and more.
TAXATION
BLC students can help clients to understand components of the Income Tax Act (“ITA”) and how certain provisions may or may not apply to different business activities. The BLC offers legal research on emergent tax issues and share legal information with regards to ITA amendments.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Whether you’re managing existing technology or introducing novel technology into the market, the BLC can help organizations understand the nuances among patent, copyright, and trademark law, how IP is or is not protected, and how to document new technologies.
STARTUPS & NEW TECHNOLOGy
For startups entering the market, the BLC can provide legal research on new and emergent technologies, venture financing, and risk management. BLC students can offer holistic legal research to help businesses scale, expand, and grow into new markets.
CONTRaCTS
Though UVic Law students cannot draft new contracts or edit existing contracts, they can offer legal research and information with regards to the type of information that ought to be present in different types of contracts, the elements necessary to make a contract valid, and best practices with regards to various contracts.
… AND MORE
While the BLC offers legal research in the areas of incorporation, financing, charitable registration, IP, franchise/partnership/shareholder agreements, contracts, business liability, employment, government regulation, and taxation, we are always open to new business law challenges outside these categories.
“Thank you so much [...] Your writing on copyright is very clear and extremely thorough... I am now better informed and more confident approaching this discussion with the advice you have given.”
Need some free legal research for your business?
Apply to the clinic.
Use the form below to share your legal questions. Intake is conducted on a rolling basis. We will get in touch as soon as possible to let you know if your query is well-suited for the clinic.
Please do not share sensitive material in the form below; only share your contact information and a general idea of your business law inquiry. Once you have been accepted as a client of BLC, any information you share will be protected by a confidentiality agreement.
Please note that the clinic is closed in the months of December, April, and August. If you are contacting the BLC during these months, you will receive a response the following month when students are back in the clinic.
