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Post-Visit Report

James M. Niemann Faculty Exchange with UWC

Funded by a grant shared by the ÎçÒ¹Ó°Ôº's ("MU") South African Education Program ("UMSAEP") and the University of Western Cape ("UWC"), I, Jim Niemann, traveled to UWC from January 30 through February 7, 2019. The purpose of the trip was to promote collaboration between MU School of Law's Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic ("ELC") and UWC, with the hope that it would lead to the establishment of an entrepreneurial legal clinic at UWC's law school. As set forth in the grant proposal abstract, each of the intended outcomes was achieved.

Intended Outcomes:

1. Development of an actionable framework for an entrepreneurship legal clinic at UWC's law school

2. Cultivation of lasting, meaningful relationships between the University and UWC for future assistance with executing plans to launch an entrepreneurship legal clinic at UWC

3. Sharing legal and curricular substantive information that will best equip current and future UWC faculty to be more impactful with fostering innovation by leveraging its law school's talent in collaboration with the Cape Town and OWC entrepreneurial ecosystems

The itinerary for the trip was carefully crafted by Deputy Vice Chancellor-Academic, Vivienne Lawack, and her Director of Strategic Academic Projects, Dr.Anita Maurtin. MU's UMSAEP director, Rod Uphoff, also aided in the planning, while also attending each of the meetings and events planned. Rod was an enormous help, both as a facilitator and a participant. The preparatory meetings included substantial visits with the Dean Jacques de Ville of the Faculty of Law, their law school clinic director, Shamiel Jassiem, DVC-Academic Lawack, Dr. Maurtin, Dean Mike Davies-Coleman of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, and top administrators from the Natural Sciences and Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) programs.

The pinnacle of the trip was my presentation on my ELC and discussion of the potential for UWC's version of such a program at its law school. The event was hosted by DVC Lawack and Dr. Maurtin, and attended by Dean Michelle Esau of the Faculty of EMS, Dean de Ville, Professor Jassiem and all of his law clinic faculty, and critical faculty at EMS and Natural Sciences. Duringan interactive discussion, EMS Dean Esau and the Natural Sciences designee both responded with excitement at the prospect of such a program for UWC, which would offer experiential learning in entrepreneurial law while developing a new legal resource to entrepreneurs and innovators on campus and in the community. During the discussion, DVC Lawack announced that she would budget for the creation of an entrepreneurship legal clinic at UWC's law school, and further promote experiential opportunities for all of UWC's graduate and undergraduate students.

P. 1 Niemann Trip Report for owe Trip (1/30/19 - 2/7/19)

I am happy to share the review of UWC's DVC-Academic, Vivienne Lawack:

To whom it may concern

Jim Niemann, Director of the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic at UM Columbia,first met with me and Dr. Anita Maurtin, Director: Strategic Academic Projects in my office, during July 2018. I was most impressed by the work of the ELC and particularly Jim's work ethicand enthusiasm. Hegave us a great overview of the work conducted by the ELC, the involvement of the students, alumni and other strategic partners, as well as the value proposition of the ELC.

As a result of this interaction, I invited Jim to visit the University of the Western Cape (UWC) at the beginning of February 2019. He conducted a fantastic, in-depth workshop, with the result that I received excellent buy-in for the start of an ELC at UWC. We would not have been able to do this without his wonderful insight and the assurance of his continued commitment to us starting an ELC at UWC.

Prof Vivienne Lawack

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (similar to Provost) University of the Western Cape vlawack@uwc.ac.za.

The ELC is a program that I pivoted my career to start at MU, my law school alma mater. This opportunity to share my program with UWC and its visionary leaders is a career highlight. I was most impressed with the decisive leadership at UWC, from the central administration to the various academic units. There is vast potential at UWC for immediate impact on the students' educational experience. Furthermore, there appears to be a significant opportunity for UWC to garner grant and other philanthropic support for its noble mission - particularly as it defines itself with a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. I remain committed to see them succeed in this effort, and I eagerly offer my continued support going forward.

Submitted by:

James M. Niemann

Founding Director, 

Executive Director for Legal Programs

MU Department of Economic Development