Professional Skills and Values in Legal Education - Institute for Law ...

534 VALPARAISO UNIVERSITY LAWREVIEW [Vol. 43
remain unsettled. 91 At the end of the module, the students prepare final
decrees of dissolution, parenting plans, and child support calculations.
Small Business Entities Practice:
The students begin by interviewing a client who wants to start a
small business venture. 92 Each student law firm forms an LLC for the
client, which requires students to prepare articles of organization and an
operating agreement, to file the documents with the corporation
commission,93 to obtain a tax number for the new business entity, and to
draft minutes for the minute book to reflect changes to the operating
agreement. In the second week of the module, the businesses set up by
three of the law firms decide to acquire the assets of the businesses set up
by the other three law firms. The law firms enter into negotiations on
behalf of their respective clients to settle issues relating to noncompetition,
indemnity, and warranty clauses in an asset purchase
agreement. Following negotiations, the students prepare an asset
purchase agreement.
Wills and Estates Practice: 94
The students learn the basics of drafting a will, a durable power of
attorney, and the probate of an estate. Each student drafts two willsone
is based on a scenario in the materials and the other is the student's
own will. The students also interview a client who needs estate planning
services. Following the will drafting assignments, the client for whom
91 In the mediation exercise, students who have completed the Phoenix School of Law
mediation course act as mediators and the other students act as lawyers for the husband
and wife.
92 The scenario in this exercise involves a client who wants to start a business to develop
and sell a solar energy device. He has an investor lined up and another person with
technical expertise who wants to be part of the venture. The students have to decide
between the forming of a corporation, partnership, or an LLC, based upon their homework
reading assignments and class discussions. (!he scenario is designed to lead the students
into choosing an LLC as the business form, though the class discusses the other forms of
businesses).
93 The "filings" are sent electronically to a legal assistant in the General Practice Skills
faculty member's law firm who either accepts it for filing or rejects it for deficiencies, based
on whatever deficiencies would cause a rejection by the corporation commission.
94 This module is scheduled for one week, with two three-hour classes. The first
semester the course was offered it was scheduled for fourteen weeks with two weeks for
each module. The wills and estates module was scheduled for the week of mid-term exams
in other courses, which did not work well for the students. A decision was made to
shorten the course to thirteen weeks, which brought it into line with other course offerings.
Consequently, the wills and estates module was reduced to one week with two three-hour
class periods. All other modules are scheduled for two weeks with four three-hour classes.