Call for Proposals: 17th Annual Transactional Clinical Conference

The Transactional Clinical Conference Planning Committee is now accepting proposals for the 17th Annual Transactional Clinical Conference. The full RFP is included below.

 

Please visit the Conference Website for additional information. http://blogs.kentlaw.iit.edu/2018tcc/

 

 

17th Annual Transactional Clinicians’ Conference

Breaking Barriers to Entrepreneurship

April 27-28, 2018 – Chicago, Illinois

Conference Website: http://blogs.kentlaw.iit.edu/2018tcc/

The Conference Planning Committee invites your proposals for the 17th Annual Transactional Clinical Conference in Chicago, Illinois on April 27 and 28, 2018.  Proposals can be for workshops, panels, or poster presentations.

PROPOSAL DEADLINE IS FEBRUARY 23, 2018

Every year, the annual Transactional Clinicians Conference (“TCC”) provides clinicians rare opportunities to up their game, both in teaching students and in assisting entrepreneurs.  In 2018, 100+ transactional clinicians will join forces in Chicago to take on traditional barriers in teaching and practice that have kept new businesses from accessing the high quality legal representation they need to succeed.  

The theme of the 2018 TCC will be “Breaking Barriers to Entrepreneurship.”  We encourage clinicians to propose topics that take a broad and inclusive view of “barriers” to entrepreneurship and innovative approaches to breaking those barriers.  For instance, proposals could address the following:

Barriers for Teachers:

• Few opportunities for teachers to learn about innovations in teaching
• Limited law school resources to open and sustain transactional clinics
• Competing priorities to juggle in teaching, supervising students, institutional service, marketing, administration, fundraising, and scholarship

Barriers for Entrepreneurs

• Uncertainty as to whether and how to seek legal counsel or legal knowledge
• Access to legal help and legal knowledge restricted by wealth, geography, language, immigration status, and computer competency
• Student entrepreneurs unable to translate innovations from the classroom into the marketplace
• Challenges in accessing capital and other resources, particularly in underserved areas and among underserved populations

Barriers for Communities Wanting to Support Entrepreneurs

• Limited public knowledge about the legal needs of new businesses
• Limited public education opportunities to learn about the legal aspects of starting a business
• Insufficient connections between transactional clinics, law firms and legal service organizations
• Insufficient connections between transactional clinics and other business support organizations, such as chambers of commerce, incubators, and Small Business Development Centers

The two-day TCC will be organized around workshops, posters, panels, and plenaries that address the above barriers while sharing best practices.  The 2018 TCC Planning Committee invites your proposals for presentations that highlight innovations in:

• teaching practices
• expanding access to legal assistance to diverse communities of entrepreneurs
• helping entrepreneurs find capital, arrange relationships with workers, and protect IP
• involving students in education efforts to improve public knowledge about how to start a business
• helping student entrepreneurs translate innovations into new products and services
• integrating alumni and local bar members in student education
• utilizing web technology to reach entrepreneurs in remote areas
• gathering and analyzing case data about entrepreneur clients to assist policymakers

Proposal Specifications

• Proposals should not exceed 2 pages.
• The committee welcomes individual and group proposals.
• For individual proposals, we may endeavor to assemble presenters on panels organized around a common theme.
• Given the involvement of digital media in students’ and entrepreneurs’ daily lives, presenters will be encouraged to leaven their content with videos, topical news, pictures, and other content.
• Proposals for workshops or panels should plan for approximately 40 to 50 minutes of presentation time.  Proposals for poster presentations should describe, in general terms, the poster that will be prepared, and presenters should plan for short, continuous conversations with attendees at the poster reception.
• The TCC  this year will be designed to provide CLE credit for participants.  Speakers and panelists will be required to submit materials required for CLE accreditation.   

Please submit proposals online at http://blogs.kentlaw.iit.edu/2018tcc/presentations/ .  If you have difficulty with any online submissions, contact Heather Harper at [email protected].  Feel free to contact any committee member with questions on the proposals.

If selected, you will be required to submit your conference materials online by March 23 (for sessions intending to generate ethics CLE credits) or April 20 (for all other materials).  

Conference & Hotel Registration

Please register online at http://blogs.kentlaw.iit.edu/2018tcc/rsvp/ .

In your registration, please note any dietary restrictions or special requests (lactation rooms, etc.).  

Group hotel accommodations are available at the Palmer House Hilton, 17 East Monroe Street, Chicago, IL 60603.

When booking your travel, please keep in mind that the conference will begin with a poster presentation and reception hosted by Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in the evening on Friday, April 27th.  The conference will begin early on Saturday, April 28th, and there will be a group conference dinner on Saturday, April 28th.  The AALS Clinical Conference will begin on Sunday, April 29th.  

As has been our tradition, we hope to secure funding support to defray at least some hotel expenses. In the event our support is insufficient to cover one night for all participants, we will allocate sponsorship first-come, first-served based on the date of registration for the conference.

To be eligible for this benefit, you must register for the conference, and indicate the nights you will need a hotel room in Chicago.  Once funding is secured, those who received a free night will be registered directly for that night, and any additional attendees who do not receive this benefit will be given a conference code to take advantage of the discounted block rate, which will be available until April 5, 2018.   Please give us your indication as early as possible, as we may need to increase the hotel block for Friday, April 27th to secure a lower rate.

Conference Communication

This year’s conference will be paperless.  All information and materials will be available online at the TCC 2018 website – http://blogs.kentlaw.iit.edu/2018tcc/ .  Please check back frequently for updates on scheduling and materials.  

 

Your Planning Committee:

Heather Harper (IIT Chicago -Kent)

Esther Barron (Northwestern)

Priya Baskaran (WVU)

Bill Kell (Berkeley)

Lynnise Pantin (BC)

Jennifer Prusak (Indiana)

Vicki Phillips (American)

Steve Reed (Northwestern)