Experiential learning in the JD/MBA program
The Elmore Entrepreneurship Law Clinic
The Elmore Entrepreneurship Law Clinic (EELC), jointly sponsored by the IU Kelley School of Business and Indiana Law, gives third-year law students and fourth-year joint degree students the opportunity to help new high-growth potential ventures become more operational and sustainable. Click here for more information.
The Kelley Academies
The Academies are a unique feature of the Kelley MBA experience and serve as an important link between your academic training and real-world practice. Each Academy focuses on a particular industry or function and comprises students with similar post-MBA interests and goals. Under the guidance of an Academy Director (a faculty member with deep industry knowledge and connections) you will explore and build relationships within the professional networks that will open the door to your dream career. Academies often travel to and complete projects for potential employers, where student presentations are showcased (and often adopted) as creative solutions to real business problems.
For JD/MBA students with limited work experience or changing careers, Academies provide invaluable specialized business knowledge and experience.
More information about the Kelley Academies can be found here.
The Business and Law Society
The Business and Law Society (BLS) is a student-run organization at the Maurer School of Law that provides law students opportunities to engage with MBAs across campus. BLS activities informally bridge the graduate programs at both schools to enhance the educational and networking opportunities available to business and law students at IU-Bloomington.
BLS members participate in the following key activities:
- Town Hall meetings
Kelley and Maurer faculty and students discuss current business topics - Field trips to the Kelley School of Business
Law students participate in select MBA events, lectures, presentations, and club meetings - Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC)
Teams of both law and business students compete to represent IU at the regional level - Informal networking events
JD and MBA students meet and learn about each other
For JD/MBA students at the law school, BLS provides a tangible connection to the business school, even during intensive periods of legal study (like 1L year).
The Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC)
As described on the VCIC website: Unlike business plan competitions in which students pitch their own ideas to investors, at VCIC the students are the investors, and real entrepreneurs pitch to them. It is a very powerful learning experience for both parties. Add to the mix a dozen VC judges, and you have … a "win-win-win."
Every year, Indiana University holds an internal Venture Capital Investment Competition to select a team to represent IU at regional (and potentially international) competition. Teams comprising both law and business students compete in a time-compressed environment, where they must review multiple business plans, evaluate potential risks and rewards, choose an investment candidate, determine fair investment terms, and negotiate term sheets with their chosen entrepreneurs — all before a panel of watchful judges.
For JD/MBA students, VCIC is an ideal opportunity to apply the critical-thinking and problem-solving skills developed in both programs to add value to a real business venture.