About this Event
Start Smart is a series of legal education seminars for entrepreneurs. It is year-round, free, and open to the public. It is hosted by the University of Pittsburgh Law School, CMU Project Olympus, and Pitt's Big Idea Center for Student Innovation.
START SMART LAW: How to Start a Business on an F-1 Student Visa
Thursday, February 25, 2021
5 P.M., Zoom
Students with an F-1 Visa can legally start businesses as well as work on a startup team. Come learn the details of how to do this without violating your student status. (In the past we have also talked about other visas, including H1B).
Panelists:
David Kalson, Dentons Cohen & Grigsby, Director of the Emerging Business Group
Larry Lebowitz, Dentons Cohen & Grigsby, Director of the Immigration Group
Linda Gentile, CMU, Director, Office of International Education.
START SMART LAW: Accelerating Growth Through Third Party Relationships/Contracts
Thursday, March 4, 2021
5 P.M., Zoom
Topics covered in this seminar include:
- What are strategic relationships?
- Why enter into strategic relationships?
- General framework and common issues
- Closer look at certain strategic relationships
Presenter: David Lehman, K&L Gates
START SMART LAW: Hiring and Firing
Thursday, March 25, 2021
5 P.M., Zoom
Learn the ins and outs of staffing a company, including: hiring of employees and/or retaining independent contractors, interns and volunteers, important terms of employment or retention, restrictive covenants, and the use of employee equity to attract and retain personnel.
Presenter: Mike Pavlik, K&L Gates
START SMART LAW: HOW TO HANDLE YOUR (AND OTHERS') INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Thursday, April 1, 2021
5 P.M., Zoom
Learn how to deal with intellectual property issues, including:
- What are copyright, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets
- Developing an IP strategy (e.g., which type of IP protection is best for your startup?)
- How to protect your company's IP
- How not to infringe on another's IP
- How to handle IP created by class projects when one or more students want to pursue commercialization
- How to handle IP created by your employees, including non-compete clauses
- What to expect after filing a patent (time and expenses)
- Tips on searching the US Patent Office database
Presenters: George Dickos and Lauren Murray, K&L Gates.
START SMART LAW: Worst Mistakes Made by Startups
Thursday, April 8, 2021
5 P.M., Zoom
A panel of lawyers will share the ‘horror stories’ of mistakes that startups have made and their consequences. Learn from the mistakes of others so you can avoid the pitfalls.
Potential Panelists
John Rodney – Clark Hill
Mary Beth Shaw – CMU
Deborah Walker – IW
David Kalson – Cohen & Grigsby
Heather Batzel – Batzel Law
Please let us know if you require an accommodation in order to participate in this event. Accommodations may include live captioning, ASL interpreters, and/or captioned media and accessible documents from recorded events. At least 5 days in advance is recommended.
Please register to receive Zoom instructions.