The legal needs of the local creative community will find support at the University of Windsor’s Faculty of Law with the founding of the Transnational Arts and Entertainment Law Clinic.

The program will provide a unique educational opportunity for students to gain clinical experience in a niche industry, aligning with the University’s core values of access to justice and supporting the growth of the creative economy.

“This clinic will fill a vital gap and provide a much-needed resource to our creative community,” said Shanthi Senthe, assistant professor of law and the clinic’s founding director.

Dr. Senthe says that UWindsor’s Dual JD program with Detroit Mercy Law and its geographic proximity to Detroit allow for unique synergies between the institutions.

Collaborating with U of D Mercy’s Arts and Entertainment Law Clinic, led by professors Melissa Eckhause and Matt Bower, will give both institutions opportunities to contribute to the cultural development of creative activities on both sides of the border, Senthe says.

She says the clinics provide training to support legal services to individuals in the music, film, writing and publishing, art, fashion, and photography industries, and that she is hopeful similar educational models can be used at other Canadian law schools.

Second-year law student Sarika Navanathan looks forward to exploring the unique complexities of entrepreneurship through the law.

“As both a law student and musician, this clinic is the perfect opportunity to merge my legal and artistic backgrounds to meet the needs of artists and entrepreneurs in the community,” says Navanathan.

This term the clinic will focus on developing local and cross-border community events to provide legal information.