O&T Students Complete Autumn 2021 Quarter Projects
The Organizations and Transactions Clinic returned to work in-person this past Autumn quarter. Under the supervision of director Jay Mitchell and clinical supervising attorney Michelle Sonu, eight full-time and one advanced student worked on a variety of contractual, advisory, and corporate governance matters, as summarized below
Contract and advice matters
Hannah Gonzalez (‘23) and Aneliese Castro (‘23) prepared artist engagement, streaming, facility rental, information sharing, and other contracts for a prominent music venue in San Francisco. The team also developed contracts and management tools for a coalition of public and private health care leaders with a mission of improving and expanding access to local healthcare systems, and advised a major Bay Area food bank about several corporate governance matters.
Kylie Choi (’23) and Dylan Simmons (’22, not pictured) represented a national nonprofit that provides direct legal services and advocates for racial justice and the rights of LGBTQ individuals. The team prepared collaboration, fiscal sponsorship, grant, and other contracts for the client as well as several management tools. The team also prepared contracts for an East Bay organization that promotes youth self-expression, community building, and social justice advocacy through creative arts programming.
George Wilson (‘23) and Michelle Guefen (‘23) prepared a variety of educational materials, contracts, and guidelines relating to intellectual property for a long-established East Bay environmental organization and fiscal sponsor. Michelle and George also helped a statewide agricultural organization serving farmers of color and beginning farmers to develop a loan document that links interest rate reductions to farmers’ adoption of conservation practices and resulting improvement in water and nutrient use.
Adrienne Irmer (‘23) and Emily Wood (‘22) created a suite of service, fiscal sponsorship, asset transfer and other documents for a Bay Area nonprofit that supports projects centered on sustainability, health, and resilience. The team also developed a collaboration agreement for an East Bay nonprofit that provides diapers, school supplies, hygiene products, and other basic supplies to shelters, schools, and other social service providers, and carried out planning for a complex contract for a large San Francisco museum.
Advanced clinic student Natalie Cernius (’22) worked with a Sacramento-area agricultural organization to revamp the documents it uses in making farmland, equipment, and technical support available to participants in its farm incubator program. Natalie also assisted a national hunger-relief organization on several contract matters.
Corporate governance
In addition, all O&T students carried out comprehensive corporate governance reviews. These engagements involved reviewing the client’s existing governance documents and practices, preparing a detailed report, drafting an extensive suite of bylaws, board committee charters, and other documents, providing a self-assessment tool and set of recommendations regarding board diversity and inclusion, and meeting with board members and senior executives. George Wilson and Dylan Simmons worked with an animal shelter located in eastern California. Michelle Guefen and Adrienne Irmer represented a San Francisco opera company. Hannah Gonzalez and Emily Wood represented a leading certifier of organic food production and handling. Aneliese Castro and Kylie Choi advised a large San Francisco hunger relief and social services nonprofit.