Law Innovation Initiative
Encouraging Law Students to 'Chase Good Experience'
In an era where traditional post-education job experiences are challenging for most law students, Silicon Flatirons students have a greater variety of options than ever. Silicon Flatirons, along with Colorado Law, is innovating and finding new ways to educate students and prepare them for their futures. Executive Director Phil Weiser routinely encourages students to “chase good experience,” to see what doors might open.
Clinics
Clinics are where law school theory meets practice. Students gain valuable, real-world experience handling actual clients and legal matters while embodying Silicon Flatirons' values of civic engagement and social responsibility. In collaboration with Colorado Law, Silicon Flatirons supports two clinical experiences: the Samuelson-Glushko Technology Law & Policy Clinic [1] and the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic [2].
Governmental Entrepreneurial Leadership Accelerator
Following summer 2016’s successful pilot, the Governmental Entrepreneurial Leadership Accelerator[3] (GELA) program returned with a second cohort and expansion to include the state government.
In 2017 Silicon Flatirons collaborated with the City and County of Denver and State of Colorado to run the accelerator, which charged Denver and Colorado employees, working in teams with Colorado Law students, to develop and use entrepreneurial thinking to address public policy issues. Through an entrepreneurial boot camp, extensive research, and regular sessions with mentors, fellows developed solutions to policy issues defined by leaders within the city and state. Teams of fellows pitched their solutions to leaders from Denver and Colorado in July.
Student Summer Programs
Tech Lawyer Accelerator
The Tech Lawyer Accelerator[4] (TLA) connects law students interested in business law with companies that are either in the technology industry, or rely heavily on technology in delivering products or services, for a hands-on learning experience. The TLA begins with a series of professional development talks and a multi-week intensive training conducted by leaders in the industry, followed by a paid internship. The internships range from 10 weeks to seven months and are offered in Colorado, Silicon Valley, and elsewhere.
DC Summer Programs & Hatfield Scholars
These programs place students in telecom, technology, privacy, and intellectual property policy positions in Washington, D.C. Students in the DC Summer Program are placed in private-sector positions.The Hatfield Scholars Program[5] centers on placing and funding students for positions in the public sector.
The programs include a series of preparatory seminars and participation in the Spectrum Management and Policy course taught by Silicon Flatirons Executive Fellows Dale Hatfield and Bryan Tramont and Affiliated Faculty Jill Dupré as well as a weekly seminar series throughout the summer featuring some of the biggest names in telecom and technology policy.
Colorado Technology Law Journal
The Colorado Technology Law Journal (CTLJ) (formerly the Journal on Telecommunications and High Technology Law (JTHTL) is a student[6]-operated and -edited telecommunications and technology law journal sponsored by Silicon Flatirons and Colorado Law. Since its founding in 2001, the journal has established a position among the elite national technology and telecommunications law journals.
Competitions
Experiential learning solidifies often abstract scholastic concepts into well-understood, concrete examples and outcomes. Silicon Flatirons supports and promotes several competitions[7] to strengthen students' education.
The Technology Law & Policy Clinic (TLPC) affords students the opportunity to advocate in the public interest concerning technology issues in front of regulatory entities, courts, and legislatures. Students gain a deeper knowledge of technology policy and legal practice before administrative bodies, with exposure to telecommunications, intellectual property, privacy, accessibility, and other policy and regulatory matters.
In May students of the TLPC presented before the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights of the United Nation’s World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, addressing the future of accessibility technology and its intersections with copyright law. Students Kyriaki Council, Gabrielle Daley, Sean Doran, Luke Ewing, Lindsey Knapton, and Andi Wilt worked with Professor Blake Reid and Professor Caroline Ncube of the University of Cape Town on this project.
Students work with local startups to provide transactional legal help for the formation and development of their businesses in the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic (ELC). This program is a sought-after experience for law students and serves as a valuable resource for Front Range entrepreneurs. More than 180 startups have benefited from the ELC’s support in the last decade.
GELA is a program designed to encourage innovative problem solving by governments, which need to do more with less. As a thought leader in innovation, Silicon Flatirons created this program to help governments—of any size—to approach problem solving in new and novel ways. GELA, a joint venture between a university and city and state governments, is believed to be the first program of its kind in the country. A Silicon Flatirons Report released in November serves as a blueprint for other municipalities to create their own version of this program.
2017 GELA Student Participants
2017 Tech Lawyer Accelerator Participants
Alex Kimata, Webroot
Casey Warsh, Workday
Courtney Merage, Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network
Daniel Insulza, Silicon Flatirons
Galen Pospisil, Zayo Group
Jenna Baranko, Bryan Cave / Red Robin
John Schoppert, NBCUniversal
Jordan Demo, West Corporation
Kristine Roach, Zayo Group
Makenzi Galvan, Medtronic
Omeed Azmoudeh, Zayo Group
Rachel Hammond, Sphero / Merchant & Gould
Rob McCary, Level 3 Communications
Tyler Hayden, Zayo Group
Zach Kachmer, DigitalGlobe
Zachary Nichols, LogRhythm
2017 DC & Hatfield Scholars
2016 – 2017 CTLJ Executive Board
Silicon Flatirons Writing Competition
Each year, Silicon Flatirons accepts submissions of student papers written on a topic involving technology law and policy, antitrust, law and economics, intellectual property, entrepreneurship, privacy, telecommunications, or related areas. The competition promotes and encourages student development through the research, planning, organization, writing, and editing of scholarly papers in this field. Submission papers are judged by a panel of attorneys at WilmerHale, the competition's sponsor. The winner receives $500. "Cyber Insecurity: How FTC v. Wyndham Falls Short and Why the United States Still Needs Federal Legislation Addressing Minimum Corporate Cybersecurity Standards" by Stephanie Logan Drumm was the winning paper.
Telecom Moot Court
Colorado Law students took first place in the National Telecom Moot Court, an annual competition held each February. The Telecom Moot Court is held in Washington, D.C. and sponsored by the Federal Communications Bar Association. Mike Stegman, Gabby Palanca, and Alex Kimata placed first. Alex Kimata was chosen as best oralist.
Interdisciplinary Ethics Tech Competition
In a new competition in February, Silicon Flatirons partnered with the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative at Colorado Law to host the Interdisciplinary Ethics Tech Competition. Student teams tackled the legal, ethical, technical, and business dimensions of a nuanced case problem concerning a hypothetical new social media platform.
First-year law students Rob McCary, Ori Noiman, and Katherine Struthers took first place. Law students Jordan Demo, Sophia Galleher, and Frank Walter, along with Telecommunications graduate student Irena Stevens took second place. Third place was received by first-year law students Julian McLendon, Alex Vetras, and Marty Whalen, along with Communication and Social Media Studies graduate student Blake Hallinan.
Venture Capital Investment Competition
Colorado Law students Kristine Yates and Randy Coffey teamed up with MBA students to win at the regional Venture Capital Investment Competition held in February at the University of Texas at Austin. The Leeds School of Business’ Deming Center for Entrepreneurship sponsors this competition, which provides students the entire venture capitalist experience.