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Food and Farm Business Law Clinic
About the Clinic
The Food and Farm Business Law Clinic (formerly the Food and Beverage Law Clinic) at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University provides pro bono transactional legal services to small farm businesses, artisan food manufacturers, craft beverage entrepreneurs, and related nonprofit organizations. Under faculty supervision, law students in the Clinic represent clients in connection with forming and structuring businesses, cooperatives, and nonprofits; drafting and negotiating legal agreements, including leases, operating agreements, and other commercial contracts; advising on regulatory matters, including related to food regulation and land use regulation; and seeking trademark protection, among other areas of practice. By providing pro bono legal representation to its clients, the Clinic seeks to facilitate the development of a more just and sustainable regional food system and economy. At the same time, by teaching fundamental lawyering skills and professionalism through hands-on legal work and client interaction, the Clinic seeks to transform law students into practice-ready professionals.
The Clinic was launched in 2017 with the generous support of the Sands Family Foundation and Constellation Brands. The Clinic is the first in the country entirely dedicated to providing direct, transactional legal services to food, beverage, and agricultural clients. The Clinic is a part of John Jay Legal Services, Inc., a non-profit legal services organization housed at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, and is a central component of the Pace Food Law Center.
Information for Prospective Clients
As part of John Jay Legal Services, Inc. (JJLS), a not-for-profit organization located at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University in White Plains, New York, the Food and Farm Business Law Clinic (the “Clinic”), provides free transactional legal services to small farm businesses, artisan food manufacturers, craft beverage entrepreneurs, and related nonprofit organizations. Legal services are provided by law student interns, authorized under New York law to advise and represent clients under the close supervision of experienced, faculty attorneys. Such legal services include:
- New business formation and legal structure
- Applications for tax exemption and other nonprofit law matters
- Review, drafting, and negotiation of contracts, including leases, operating agreements, and other commercial contracts
- Regulatory advice, including relating to land use and zoning
- Filing and maintaining trademarks
Please note: the Clinic does not participate in civil litigation or administrative proceedings.
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We choose which clients according to a range of factors that include the diversity of clinical learning objectives, the variety in our caseload, the number of clients we already represent, the complexity of the matter, our practical experience with the matter, and the alignment of the matter with our mission, and the client’s ability to work with law students.
In addition, because we provide free legal services, clients are screened for income criteria.
- For a for-profit business, the household income of the business owners should not exceed 400% of the Federal Poverty Level. (For example, under the 2024 guidelines, 400% of the Federal Poverty Level equals $60,240 for a household of one, $81,760 for a household of two, $103,280 for a household of three, $124,800 for a household of four, etc.).
- For a non-profit organization, the organization and project should satisfy the Association of Pro Bono Counsel’s “mission-matter-means” eligibility criteria.
The Clinic primarily works with clients during the academic year (September - December, and January - May). Although we accept new clients on an ongoing basis, the Clinic aims to start new projects at the beginning of each semester and conclude each semester with a tangible work product.
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How to Apply for Legal Assistance:
To request legal assistance, please fill out this short application.What Does It Cost?
There is no charge for legal services provided by the Clinic. However, clients are responsible for any filing fees or other expenses incurred in the course of the representation and approved by the client in advance.
Under faculty supervision, law students in the Clinic provide transactional legal services directly to clients, taking primary responsibility for the representation. Students are expected to manage client communications, conduct original research, draft transactional documents, and set the agenda for their weekly supervision. Through their client work, students develop fundamental transactional legal skills including contract drafting, entity and deal structuring, negotiation, legal research and analysis, creative problem solving, and client counseling.
Students must also enroll in the weekly seminar, which teaches the substantive law and legal practice skills that are most useful in support of their client work. In addition, the seminar provides an opportunity to discuss the role of law and lawyers in food systems and the practical, ethical, and policy-based issues that arise in the context of their client work.
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Professional Responsibility plus one regulatory course (Environmental Skills and Practice, Environmental Law Survey, Administrative Law, or Food Systems and the Environment Law) and one transactional course (Corporations and Partnerships, Drafting Legal Documents, Sustainable Business and the Environment, Environmental Law in Commercial Transactions, or Real Estate Transactions and Finance).
The regulatory or transactional course requirement may be waived or taken concurrently in exceptional circumstances.
The clinic is open to students in their second, third, or fourth year of law school, and they must apply through John Jay Legal Services, Inc.
Clinic Resources and Publications
Most of our work consists of directly assisting clients on legal matters, drafting transactional legal documents which remain confidential to the client. We also sometimes help our non-profit and trade association clients by creating publicly-available legal resources:
- Solar Grazing Contract Template, developed by the Clinic in 2019 and updated in 2022 for client American Solar Grazing Association
- Solar Beekeeping Contract Template, developed by the Clinic in 2021 for client American Solar Grazing Association
- Farm to School Legal Toolkit: A Legal Guide for New York Farmers, developed by the Clinic in partnership with Common Ground Farm (PDF)
- Maker’s Guide to Cider Law – A Guide to Licensing, Labeling Excise Tax, and Direct Shipment for New York Cider Makers, developed by the Clinic in 2018 for client New York Cider Association (PDF)
Faculty and Staff
Learn more about the faculty and staff at the Pace Food Law Center.
Meet Our Alumni
Isabelle Hayes '24: An Environmental Impact
“The Clinic expanded my knowledge and taught me concrete skills; it provided me invaluable "real world" lawyering experience. It was very rewarding to participate in pro bono work, directly help clients with their needs, and have a positive impact in the food, agriculture, and land use law spaces.