Every year, brilliant students who have the potential to become very successful entrepreneurs graduate from Universities across Canada. Most of them find themselves looking for the right guidance and training to transition from academia to working in the business world. The EPICentre helps these students grow and assists them with turning their ideas into businesses.
Through their legal triage program, the EPICentre also provides excellent opportunities for law students who hope to gain practical experience in the field of business and law, especially Intellectual Property law.
The relationship between business, technology, and intellectual property law has always been an intricate one; this intricacy has become even clearer in the past decade as more businesses have begun using technology and operating on online platforms. Businesses in the ever-changing digital age require complex laws to regulate their growth and function; as such, it is important for future lawyers (or current law students), to have a well-rounded understanding of how the fields of law, technology, and business intersect. Working with the EPICentre as part of the legal triage team gives law students the necessary exposure to gain such well-rounded experience and understanding.
This summer, I had the pleasure of working as a legal triage member and learn about the intersection of these fields in a practical setting. I met and worked with very bright entrepreneurs, most of whom were in the early stages of starting their businesses. Working with Startup companies of various fields, ranging from the sale of goods to service delivery, all of which operate on online platforms was an excellent learning experience for me.
My job was to educate start-ups on structuring their businesses, protecting their intellectual property, and becoming familiar with various legal contracts they are likely to encounter as business owners; through this responsibility, I learned more about the intersection of law and business in an experiential environment. I was able to conduct supervised research, meet with clients, build relationships, and have the opportunity to apply my academic knowledge of contract, intellectual property, and Business law to my work with the Startup companies.
It was an absolute pleasure to work with the EPICentre team this summer. I would like to thank them for providing such great opportunities and maintaining a professional, educational, and friendly environment while helping students and recent graduates grow. I look forward to maintaining the strong relationships I acquired while working with the team. I highly recommend that young entrepreneurs and innovators reach out to the Epicentre for assistance and for law students seek opportunities to work with them as they become available.
