QUT Law students and representatives from Brisbane City Council and Gadens met with the Brisbane Startup community for a night of networking and knowledge sharing.
Sixty people attended the recent Q&A panel event that was sponsored by Gadens and hosted at the Brisbane Business Hub. Attendees included Councillors James Mackay and Vicki Howard from the Brisbane City Council, and the Chairperson of Gadens, Paul Spiro. Cr Mackay said that the event “offered insight on relevant topics and was a productive way for the Brisbane community to come together.”
Welcoming the launch, Head of School, Associate Professor Judith McNamara said the clinic “demonstrates the QUT Law School's commitment to innovative and engaging legal education that is research-driven and has deep engagement with the legal profession and industry.”
Piloted and coordinated by QUT Law School Lecturer Brydon Timothy Wang, the Startup Law Clinic is a new elective unit within the Bachelor of Laws (Honours). In response to a market survey conducted in March, students were able to engage with the legal concerns of startups at the Brisbane Business Hub. This resulted in the creation of a series videos for businesses that help explain legal topics such as APIs, cross-border disclosures of data, consumer guarantees, online defamation, data sovereignty, patent infringement, limitation of liability provisions and shareholder management. Associate Professor McNamara congratulated students on their outstanding presentations and their deep engagement with the legal issues.
The clinic has partnered with Gadens this semester to provide students with a real-world opportunity to engage and assist early-stage traditional startups, small businesses and social enterprises across a range of legal matters. Under the guidance the law firm, students are currently immersed in researching a wide range of topics relevant to the startup ecosystem, providing assistance on what legal questions these businesses should be asking and seeking help on.
Also in attendance on the night was Professor Amanda Kennedy, Director of Engagement, who said, “the clinic is a great example of QUT Law’s leadership in clinical legal education.”
Councillor Mackay congratulated QUT Law School on the event and the Startup Law Clinic initiative. QUT Law School would like to thank Gadens and Brisbane Business Hub for their generous support.
Find out more about LLB465 Startup Law Clinic.