Press Release

UA Colleges of Business, Law Launch New Collaboration

Eller College of Management, McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship, and Arizona Law Announce the Business / Law Exchange™

TUCSON, Ariz. – October 26, 2007 – Hybrid versions of existing car models. The iPhone. Drugs like seizure medication topiramate, which may also reduce alcohol dependence. Hot products today don’t stem from brand-new inventions, but from new applications of existing technology, from refined or expanded capability, or through revolutionary production processes that occur behind the scenes. The face of entrepreneurship is changing, and with it, the issues that business and law must surmount together.   

Now, at The University of Arizona, the Eller College of Management, the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship, and the James E. Rogers College of Law have launched a new partnership to better prepare graduates to succeed in the knowledge economy, with a particular focus on the intersection between law and entrepreneurship.

“The first program of the Business / Law Exchange™, the Mock Law Firm, launched in spring with funding from the Kauffman Foundation,” explained Sherry Hoskinson, co-director of the Exchange and director of the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship. “Now we are working to expand our collaboration through workshops, guest speakers, and colloquia, all aimed at increasing our understanding of the issues leaders face in an innovation-based economy.”

“The partnership is a natural,” said Darian Ibrahim, Exchange co-director and Arizona Law associate professor. “The University of Arizona is a recognized research and teaching leader in law, business and entrepreneurship, and science and technology. We are seizing an opportunity to establish a leadership position by bringing these disciplines together in the evolving economy that our students will face after graduation.”

In addition to hosting events and speakers, the Business / Law Exchange will develop interdisciplinary fellowship opportunities, identify new courses in business and law based on industry needs and student demand, and build connections within the legal and entrepreneurial communities to encourage support and participation. The latter two goals come together in the Mock Law Firm.

Begun in spring, the Mock Law Firm creates a study environment for students in law and in entrepreneurship to engage one another in a duplication of the real-world issues that surround the launch of a new venture. Tucson attorney Lawrence Hecker, an adjunct practitioner faculty member with Arizona Law, leads the class.

“The decisions an entrepreneur makes today will have a big impact on his or her ability to obtain financing in the future,” Hecker said. “It’s important to anticipate issues that might arise at the beginning, the middle, and the end of the launch process. Entrepreneurs need to consider ownership, governance, financing, employment, licensing, and intellectual property as they move forward.”

More information about tThe Business / Law Exchange is available online at http://business-law.arizona.edu.

The Eller College of Management at The University of Arizona is internationally recognized for pioneering research, innovative curriculum, distinguished faculty, excellence in entrepreneurship, and social responsibility. U.S.News & World Report ranks the Eller undergraduate program #12 among public business schools and five of its departments are among the top 25 — Entrepreneurship, MIS, Marketing, Management and Organizations, and Accounting. The MPA program in the School of Public Administration and Policy ranks in the top 50. Financial Times ranks the Eller MBA full-time program #27 in the U.S. and #57 in the world, and Forbes ranks the program among the top 50 nationwide. The College leads the nation’s business schools in generating grant funds for research. In addition to a full-time MBA program, the Eller College offers an evening MBA program, and the Eller Executive MBA. The Eller College of Management supports more than 5,100 undergraduate and 600 graduate students on the UA campus in beautiful Tucson, Arizona.

Press Contact:
Linda Herrick, Eller College Public Relations and Events Coordinator
520.626.2590, news@eller.arizona.edu