Newswise — CHICAGO - Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and the Kellogg School of Management are collaborating to provide Northwestern Law students the opportunity to understand the legal and business environment of growth-stage start-up firms in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The San Francisco Immersion Program is open to Northwestern Law JD students and is tailored toward students interested in understanding the legal and business environment of growth-stage start-up firms, venture capital firms and high-tech companies.

Students selected for the program will spend the first 10 weeks of the Spring 2018 semester in residence in San Francisco taking courses, one of which includes participation in a legal externship with a high-tech Bay Area company. Classes run from Jan. 8 through March 18, 2018. All second- and third-year JD students are eligible to apply.

The curriculum includes both Kellogg and Law School courses. The Law School plans to offer the following courses, which also are available to Kellogg students:

  • The Business and Law of Venture Deals
  • Competition Policy: Antitrust and Intellectual Property
  • High Tech Practicum (externship and seminar) (Law students only)

Kellogg plans to offer the following courses, which also are available to Law students:

  • Launching and Leading Start-Ups
  • Social Dynamics and Network Analytics
  • Entrepreneurship: Building Innovation, Teams and Cultures

Residential faculty will teach through a combination of in-person instruction and video conferencing technology, while local/adjunct faculty will primarily teach in person. Students will work 10 to 15 hours per week at their assigned externships three days a week. The externships may continue to the conclusion of the Law School’s spring semester.

Northwestern opened a satellite campus in San Francisco last year. The state-of-the-art space is available for all of its schools to offer programming that will benefit from the Bay Area location.

“This exciting development complements our growing array of offerings at the intersection of law, business and technology, and augments our resolute efforts to prepare our students to think entrepreneurially, no matter the career path they ultimately choose,” said Daniel Rodriguez, dean of Northwestern Law. “These include, among other activities, our industry-leading JD-MBA program with Kellogg; our Master of Science in Law program for STEM professionals; our recently announced Kellogg core classes exclusively for Law students; and the Donald Pritzker Entrepreneurship Law Center, which also serves Bay Area clients.”