LAW 349 – BUSINESS LAW CLINIC SAMPLE – NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION Clinic Operation Guide 1. Client Service •
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We strive to get a letter or memorandum response to clients within 3-‐ 4 weeks of the first interview. This period includes student research, preparation of a draft information letter or memorandum by the student or students, review of the letter or memorandum and editing by the Director, review and comments by the Mentor or Mentors and preparation and delivery of final letter or memorandum by the Clinic Administrator. In appropriate circumstances, an electronic version may also be sent to the clients. Each week, one student will be on duty to check the BLC voicemail which must be done at a minimum every 24 hours. The Clinic Administrator forwards emails received from prospective clients to the person on duty when the emails are received. The student must follow-‐up with any potential clients who have left messages within 48 hours to confirm that the Clinic has received their voicemail or e-‐mail message and to get some information about the type of request the potential client is making. (See voicemail access instructions under BLC Voicemail and Telephone Instructions below) Once you have obtained the information, please send Michael Litchfield an email at [email protected] with the contact info for the potential client and the nature of the request. The Director, in conjunction with the students, will then decide whether the matter is appropriate for the Clinic to take on and, if so, the client will be allocated to the appropriate team and the team will set up an interview with the client. Once a client has been allocated to a team, that team must give the clinic administrator the information on the client and the matter so that she can add them to the spreadsheet that tracks what matters are in the Clinic. The client information must also be entered into the confidential Clinic database. In their first call with the client, the responsible team should schedule an interview, obtain all contact information and confirm the place and time of the interview by follow-‐up e-‐mail to the client. Please give the client a telephone number or e-‐mail address which you check frequently in case the client is late or has to cancel. You can tell the client that the Clinic’s policy on “no shows” is that we need advance notice if cancellation is necessary and that, after two missed appointments, we will close our file so that we can work on other matters. •
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In their first call with the client, the responsible team should advise the client that, before the interview, we will need him/her to sign the Client Agreement. You can offer to e-‐mail or fax these documents to the client (PDF versions are available on the class Course Spaces website). Please request that the client send them back to fax number 250-‐721-‐8146 or to the BLC e-‐mail. It may be most efficient to ask the client to send to you ahead of the interview any contract or background material he/she may want you to review so both members of the team can read through it before the interview (do this only if you can commit to reading it before the interview); Your team should get together ahead of the interview and develop a list of initial questions and concerns you have about any material the client has sent and decide how you will conduct the interview (will one of you lead, will you each ask a question in turn, etc.). The Director or Instructor will try to attend the first client meeting. Please contact the Director or Instructor by phone, e-‐mail or in class if you have any questions about how to conduct the client interview. Treat the interview as a fact-‐finding meeting at which you clarify with the client what legal information the client is looking for and what business result the client wishes to achieve. You should also be clear in setting the expectations of the client, i.e. tell the client that you will be discussing his or her request with the Director of the Clinic, and the other students in the Clinic to confirm that the work is appropriate for the Clinic and thereafter you will research the law, draft a legal information letter or memorandum, circulate it to your Mentor and then send it to the client. Tell the client that you will call or e-‐mail him or her to confirm what aspects of the research have been approved by the Director and to confirm the anticipated time line for completing and sending the information letter. Once you have conducted the interview, if the Director has not been present at the interview, report to the Director by e-‐mail. Your e-‐mail should include the nature of the request made and your proposal for how you will go about responding to the request. 2. File Management Criteria Each client file should have on the left hand side “brad” (metal prongs): 1. The yellow timesheet which the clinic administrator has put in every BLC file completed by you to list the date of Client’s initial inquiry to BLC and dates of all subsequent calls and interviews between the client and the students in charge of file with a note as to the time spent; and 2. The green Client information form which the clinic administrator has put in every BLC file, completed by you to the extent possible. On the right hand side “brad” of each of these files should be the following items in date order (most recent document on top): 1. Original Client Agreement signed by client; UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA | BUSINESS LAW CLINIC
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Summary of, or notes from, all discussions between the client and students in charge of file; Summary/checklist of resources used to research issues; All correspondence; Any draft information letter or memo with Mentor comments; Copy of any final information letter or memo signed and sent to the client. 3. Team Participation Students will be paired in teams. The ability to work effectively in a team is a critical skill in practising business law and the Director has high expectations for the students to develop and exhibit this skill during this course. Each team of students must decide early in the semester how they will work together by negotiating and signing a “Letter of Shared Responsibility” covering at least the following subjects: • Preferred method of communication and exchange of contact information; • Acknowledgement of shared responsibility for team work product and commitment to teamwork; • Acknowledgement that each member commits to use his/her best efforts to deliver excellent work product; • Preferred times for the team to schedule and conduct client meetings at the Faculty of Law; • How client meetings will be conducted (e.g. will one person take the lead in preparing and conducting the interview with the other documenting it or will some other approach be used, how will the students engender client confidence and exhibit professionalism ); • Responsibility for file management; • Expectations of the timelines for responding to clients, conducting research, preparing and exchanging draft work product, providing comments to each other, seeking Director and Mentor input and finalizing documents and a commitment to meet those expectations; • Acknowledgement that misunderstandings, disagreements and conflict can arise in team relationships and agreement regarding what constitutes a respectful and effective method of dealing with issues in a timely manner in a team setting. Please provide the Director with a signed copy of your letter of shared responsibility. 4. Legal Research Requirements We must ensure that the legal information given in our letters and memos to clients of the Clinic is up-‐to-‐date and accurate. Students are required to maintain a checklist of their legal research to show what sources they have used to prepare their legal information letters or memos. This checklist should be provided to the Director with the final draft of the letter or memo. UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA | BUSINESS LAW CLINIC
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5. Requests for Input from Mentors Clinic Mentors are busy practitioners who have kindly volunteered their time to mentor Clinic students. When you ask your Mentors for input, please show all due respect in the tone of your e-‐mail or voicemail. The Director’s comments on each draft letter or memo should be incorporated prior to sending the draft to the Mentors. Team members should send all team memos to one of their Mentors so that the Mentors have the opportunity to actively participate in the clinical program. In making their request for input, students should clearly state by when they hope to receive their Mentor’s comments. If a Mentor is too busy to respond in a timely manner (within 4 or 5 business days), please tell the Director. An example of an appropriate e-‐mail text requesting input is: Dear Ms X, "I am attaching a draft memorandum that our team has prepared in response to a request made by a client. This draft has been reviewed by the Director of the Business Law Clinic. If possible, I would be delighted to receive any suggestions you may have to improve the memo before it is sent out to the client this coming {Friday}. Your feedback is very much appreciated. Best regards …” 6. BLC Voicemail and Telephone Instructions To place a long distance call on client business from the BLC/ELC Clinic phone, you must enter a code. The ELC and the BLC use the same phone but the access codes are different. Please be sure to enter the BLC code when making any long distance phone calls. That code is: REDACTED The Clinic voicemail greeting should state: "You have reached the Business Law Clinic at the University of Victoria's Faculty of Law. Clients of the Clinic can obtain free legal information on business issues from supervised senior law students enrolled in the Faculty. Client interviews are scheduled year round except in December, April and August when there is an interval between academic terms. {Please leave your name, number and the nature of the business law issue you would like information about and a student will return your call shortly.} // {We are currently in such an interval but we are looking to take on files for the new semester which commences in _____. Please leave your name, your number and the nature of the business law information you are interested in and a student will return your call in the first week of __________.}" UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA | BUSINESS LAW CLINIC
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7. BC Online BLC students have access to BC Online for client purposes. An account has been set up at http://www.bconline.gov.bc.ca. The User ID REDACTED. The Director will provide the password to you in confidence. BC Online may be used for corporate and other searches strictly for client purposes. There is a charge for this service paid by the Law School, so please use your good judgment in respect to using this service. 8. Precedent Database and Course Spaces There is a dedicated and secure SharePoint database for the Business Law Clinic. This exists to keep a record of clients and work product for clients and provides a precedent library to assist students in research for future clients. The integrity and utility of this resource is dependent upon the students diligently and accurately uploading to the BLC site all relevant client information as well as research memos and information letters and memos to clients. Further instruction will be given in class on accessing and using the BLC database. The Business Law Clinic also has a Course Spaces website that contains a range of information and resources that will assist you in your participation in the clinic. UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA | BUSINESS LAW CLINIC
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