Stay tuned for details about our upcoming webinars on sharing economy law practice!

Past Workshops:

Last fall, SELC offered 11 workshops for attorneys and legal professionals seeking to build skills and knowledge to meet the legal needs of the sharing economy. Unless otherwise noted, each workshop was led by Janelle Orsi. All proceeds from workshops benefit the Sustainable Economies Law Center.

 
Thursday, September 12, 3:30-5:30pm, Downtown Berkeley

Introduction to Practicing Law in the Sharing Economy / Navigating the Legal Grey Areas

A new economy is blossoming in our communities, and innumerable attorneys are needed to meet the legal needs of new worker cooperatives, community-supported enterprise, urban farms, food cooperatives, land trusts, cohousing communities, social enterprise, cottage-scale enterprise, community currencies, and other clients laying the groundwork for community resilience. The sharing economy is initiating a new age of innovation in the law, and lawyers entering this field will inevitably be leaders in the development of new types of contracts, new organizational structures, creative arrangements for financing, risk management, real estate ownership, and much more. This workshop - the first in an 11-part series - will provide an overview of the basic skills and knowledge attorneys should cultivate to serve the legal needs of the sharing economy, including an introduction to common puzzles and legal grey areas. This activity has been approved for 2 units of MCLE credit by the State Bar of California. 
Click here for more information and to register.
Happy Hour to follow.

Thursday, September 19, 4:00-6:00pm, Downtown Berkeley
Starting and Managing a Sharing Economy Law Practice

Starting a law practice is a powerful way for lawyers to create their own livelihoods and meet the needs of the sharing economy. This workshop will provide tips and tools for starting and managing a private law practice, selecting areas of specialty, and collaborating with other lawyers. Attendees will be encouraged to share their experiences and ideas with one another. This activity has been approved for 2 units of MCLE credit by the State Bar of California. 
Click here for more information and to register.

Tuesday, September 24, 4:00-6:00pm, Downtown Berkeley
Entity Choice for Social Enterprise and Introduction to Cooperatives

This workshop will examine key considerations in helping a client choose and structure an entity. We will use case studies that represent common clients in the sharing economy. Approximately half of this workshop will focus on legal structures for cooperatives. This activity has been approved for 2 units of MCLE credit by the State Bar of California. 
Click here for more information and to register.

Monday, September 30, 4:00-6:00pm, Downtown Berkeley
Cooperative Bylaws Under a Microscope

This workshop will closely examine bylaws for two worker-owned cooperatives, including a collectively managed LLC and a California Consumer Cooperative Corporation. We will discuss provisions of the California Corporations Code and IRC Subchapter T, which partially dictate the content of bylaws. We will also discuss ways that general cooperative principles can manifest in bylaws. You will also get a quick "Elinor Ostrom For Lawyers" lesson as Janelle shows you how SELC has begun to incorporate Ostrom's design principles for common pool resource management into co-op bylaws. This activity has been approved for 2 units of MCLE credit by the State Bar of California. 
Click here for more information and to register.

Monday, October 7, 4:00-6:00pm, Downtown Berkeley
Nonprofit Legal Structures and Tax Exemption for Unique Organizations

This workshop will examine nonprofit structure and tax exemption for some of the more unique organizations emerging in the sharing economy. Many organizations will not fit squarely within 501(c)(3), often due to inclusion of commercial activities or mutual aid practices within the organization. This requires that lawyers begin exploring the outer realms of the 501(c) options. We'll discuss (c)(4), (c)(6), (c)(7), (c)(8) and beyond! We'll look at mutual benefit nonprofit structures and the potential for going without tax exemption. We'll also discuss "fiscal sponsorship," and will examine a sample fiscal sponsorship agreement. This activity has been approved for 2 units of MCLE credit by the State Bar of California. 
Click here for more information and to register.

Thursday, October 24th, 4:00-8:00pm, Downtown Berkeley
Legal Issues Related to Creating Economically Sustainable Housing and Land

This workshop will examine legal considerations related to unique models of ownership, management, financing, and sharing of housing and land. We will walk through form of title and choice of entity considerations for a handful of shared housing and land ownership scenarios, consider tools for preserving ecosystems and affordability, and discuss a broad range of legal issues that arise in connection with real estate. Hot tip: There is a noticeable shortage of real estate attorneys focused on serving the sharing economy, particularly in the Bay Area. Co-ownership is exploding and we need attorneys to specialize in this area! This activity has been approved for 4 units of MCLE credit by the State Bar of California. 
Click here for more information and to register.

Wednesday, October 30, 4:00-6:00pm, Downtown Berkeley
Employment Law Puzzles in the Sharing Economy

Employment law is a hot topic in the sharing economy, and it may present one of the greatest barriers standing in the way of more cooperative economies. Employment law comes up as an issue for an enormous number of sharing economy initiatives, and this workshop will prepare attorneys to spot and analyze employment law issues for their clients. Both for-profit and nonprofit social enterprises often violate employment laws when they host volunteers. Farms often violate employment laws when they host interns. Food and housing cooperatives often inadvertently create employment relationships with their members. Worker cooperatives also struggle to determine the employment relationships within their companies. In short, it comes up a lot.  This workshop will prepare you to spot issues and will provide tools for helping clients come into compliance with the law. This activity has been approved for 2 units of MCLE credit by the State Bar of California. 
Click here for more information and to register.

Monday, November 4, 6:00-8:15pm, SOMA neighborhood of San Francisco
Elimination of Bias in the Legal Profession and Substance Abuse Prevention
Taught by attorneys Rafael Pacquing and Emily Bolt, 2 units of MCLE Specialty Credit pending

This two hour workshop will offer attorneys one hour of training in Elimination of Bias in the Legal Profession, and one hour of training in Prevention of Substance Abuse, as required by the State Bar of California. Attorney Rafael Pacquing will lead a workshop on class bias in the legal profession. Attorney Emily Bolt will lead a workshop examining attorney stress and use of mindfulness techniques in the prevention of substance abuse. Additional details coming soon. This activity has been approved for 2 units of MCLE credit by the State Bar of California, including one unit of credit for Prevention of Substance Abuse, and one unit of credit for Elimination of Bias in the Legal Profession. 

SELC would like to thank the attorneys at Wilson Sonsini who invited SELC to offer this workshop, and who are providing the workshop space.
Click here for more information and to register.

Monday, November 18, 6:00-9:00pm, SOMA neighborhood of San Francisco
Professional Ethics for Attorneys in the New Economy
3 units of MCLE Specialty Credit pending

This workshop will examine common ethical issues that arise for attorneys serving the sharing economy, social enterprise, cooperatives, and other unique projects aimed and creating more sustainable economies. We will discuss the role of attorneys in the context of social change movements, considerations in the structure of a law practice, working with interns and apprentices, assisting clients operating within legal grey areas, common conflicts of interest, multiple representation, lawyers who serve as mediators, giving advice in legal clinics, fee structures, and handful of other ethical considerations. This activity has been approved for 3 units of MCLE ethics credit by the State Bar of California. 

SELC would like to thank the attorneys at Wilson Sonsini who invited SELC to offer this workshop, and who are providing the workshop space.
Click here for more information and to register.

CANCELLED: Thursday, December 5, 4:00-6:00pm, Downtown Berkeley
Contracts and Risk Management in the Sharing Economy

This workshop will examine common types of contracts in the sharing economy, along with common liability concerns and risk management tools. In particular, we may look at or discuss contracts for carsharing, community-supported enterprise, housing co-ownership, community garden leasing, and liability waivers. We will discuss best practices for contract drafting, ways of collaborating with clients in the drafting process, and tips for making contracts both readable and enforceable. This activity has been approved for 2 units of MCLE credit by the State Bar of California. 
Click here for more information and to register.

Thursday, December 12, 3:30-5:30pm, Downtown Berkeley
Legal Issues Related to Alternative Forms of Currency and Capital Raising

Sharing economy attorneys must be prepared for clients to blow our minds with creative ideas for micro-lending, crowdfunding, community-based capital raising, community currencies, barter networks, and more. This workshop will walk through basic options for clients seeking to raise capital creatively, with particular attention to securities exemptions that are simple to use. We will also provide an overview of legal issues that arise in connection with alternative currencies and barter arrangements, including tax requirements, currency laws, money transmitter laws, wage and hour laws, and more. In addition, we will briefly discuss legal issues that arise in connection with lending circles, often known as tandas. This activity has been approved for 2 units of MCLE credit by the State Bar of California. 

SELC will be hosting a happy hour event Oakland or Berkeley immediately following this workshop. Watch our event page for details.
Click here for more information and to register.
Happy Hour to follow. See our Events page for details.

We're not currently accepting applications for new fellowships. Please sign up for our newsletter for information on future fellowship opportunities.

In 2013, we created a Legal Fellowship Program and provided fellowships to 5 new attorneys. As of 2022, the program has grown to 49 attorneys. Our current fellows are listed here.

Purpose and Description of the Fellowship

The fellowship provides training, mentorship, and other resources to attorneys beginning new law practices, legal organizations, and other projects serving the legal needs of local sustainable economies.  The goal of the program is to meet the legal needs of the growing sustainable economy movement.  

Meeting those needs requires that lawyers blaze new career paths and establish transactional law practices aimed at providing services to worker cooperatives, housing cooperatives, land trusts, and other democratically-governed organizations. In order to foster this growing community of lawyers, the Law Center invites lawyers of all experience levels to apply to become a Sustainable Economies Legal Fellow, if they 1) intend to meet those legal needs by starting a new law practice, or launching a legal organization or other project that will serve the legal needs of democratically-governed organizations, and 2) would benefit from the support the fellowship offers. 

Sustainable Economies Legal Fellows begin the program as a cohort, either in April or September of each year. 

After two years, Fellows “graduate” to Senior Fellow. Senior Fellows are expected to pay it forward by taking an active role in the program, such as through mentoring New Fellows and/or presenting Continuing Legal Education materials, webinars and/or workshops. 

Senior Fellows may remain in the program for as long as their law practice, legal organization, or project continues to align with the program goals.

Benefits of the Program

Sustainable Economies Legal Fellows receive training, mentorship, and other resources through our Monthly Fellows Calls and two annual, multi-day, in-person convenings in the Spring  (May/June); and the Fall (Sept/Oct). 

The Sustainable Economies Law Center’s Legal Fellowship is an unpaid fellowship. However, we do provide reimbursement for travel and lodging expenses for the two multi-day Fellows Convenings on a need-basis, as our funding permits. 1st and 2nd year Fellows will be given priority for expense reimbursements. 

Applications

Applications are accepted during the following cycles:

• Winter Cycle: Closed

• Summer Cycle: Check back for further information

This fall, SELC is offering an 11-part workshop series for attorneys and legal professionals seeking to build skills and knowledge to meet the legal needs of the sharing economy.  Click here for the full listing of workshops. This is the first workshop series of its kind!  The curriculum for the workshop expands upon SELC’s groundbreaking book, Practicing Law in the Sharing Economy (ABA Books 2012).

That what a peer-to-peer economy needs is more attorneys might, in lay people, spark cognitive dissonance. The problem, according to Orsi, is how society thinks about lawyers. And to fix a modern problem, she and her colleagues are leaning on the model of that famous attorney of centuries past, Abraham Lincoln.

As a sharing lawyer, Janelle Orsi thought she would write agreements and form organizations. She quickly realized however, that her clients were continually running up against legal barriers that were too high and too difficult for people to navigate. In go-getter fashion, Orsi co-founded, along with attorney Jenny Kassan, the Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC) to break down some of the legal barriers and help people navigate them.

If you’re starting (or thinking of starting) a sharing economy company, there’s a very good chance you’ll wonder at some point: ”Is this actually legal?”

When it comes to sharing with others, Janelle Orsi practices what she preaches. Orsi, an Oakland solo practitioner, specializes in a new niche: “sharing law.” She even wrote the book on it: Practicing Law in the Sharing Economy (ABA Books, 2012).