New Queen's Business Law Clinic to open this fall

Photo by Greg Black

QBLC director Professor Peter Kissick (second from right) with winter 2009 pilot project student caseworkers Amaan Gangji, Matthew Lui, Kathryn Houlden and Andrew Spencer of Law '09

Queen's is prepared to launch its first Business Law Clinic in the fall of 2009, thanks to a $150,000 grant from the Law Foundation of Ontario. The clinic will provide legal assistance to small start-up businesses and non-profit organizations in eastern Ontario under the direction of Peter Kissick, Law ‘88, LLM '98, Associate Professor and Distinguished Faculty Fellow in Business Law at the Queen's School of Business. It will begin with eight students and eventually expand to 18, providing each of these students with hands-on, clinical opportunities to develop their business law skills.

"The clinic is a major part of our strategy to build a first-class business law program at Queen's, a program that includes our new J.D./MBA combined degree launched in 2007, our new $200,000 Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP Distinguished Lectures in Business Law series to be launched this fall, and a new faculty member in business law in 2010," says Dean Bill Flanagan.

The Queen's Business Law Clinic (QBLC) began as a pilot project in winter 2009, after four Corporate Law and Investment Club executive members submitted a proposal to Flanagan in 2008. Amaan Gangji, Kathryn Houlden, Matthew Lui and Andrew Spencer of Law '09 became the first student caseworkers to serve clients in the new clinical program. "We soon found a real niche in Kingston for the clinic to assist start-up companies and entrepreneurs," Kissick says.

Indeed, Jan Dines, manager of the Kingston Economic Development Corporation's Entrepreneurship Centre, says she found "great value in having the QBLC in Kingston," and referred several clients to the pilot clinic. "Given the low-cost nature of the clinic's services, our clients now have a legal resource to turn to that for many did not previously exist," Dines says.

Kissick was impressed with his students' ability to fill this legal gap. "Amaan, Kathryn, Matt and Andrew were professional and thorough, and they displayed an innate ability to empathize with their clients' needs."

Students who participate in the clinic earn more than just academic credit. "I obtained invaluable, practical legal skills, exposure to the business side of running a law practice and a wealth of substantive legal knowledge, all while helping clients achieve their goals," Kathryn says. "The Queen's Business Law Clinic is the heart and soul of what you do as a business lawyer."

Clinic to establish ties with local Bar

In an effort to expand the business law community in eastern Ontario, the QBLC aims to create a network linking local lawyers with clinic resources and future clients. Kissick will also maintain the clinic's relationship with groups such as Pro Bono Students Canada, recognized for performing valuable work with non-profit organizations.

Alumni and other lawyers from eastern Ontario interested in joining the QBLC network should contact Professor Kissick at PKissick@business.queensu.ca.

Upper-year students interested in being considered for the LAW-438 Queen's Business Law Clinic course in 2009-10 should see application details at http://law.queensu.ca/students/jdProgram/2009-2010UpperYearProgram/addDropNotes-Sep01.pdf. The application deadline is noon on Thursday, September 10, 2009.