Commercial legal clinics strive for high-tech inclusivity

Haredim in high tech photo: Ariel Yerusalimsky
Haredim in high tech photo: Ariel Yerusalimsky

Legal clinics can help integrate more women, Arabs and ultra-Orthodox Jews into Israeli high-tech, write Adv. Assaf Ben-David and Eilon Morag.

Recently, a group of representatives from venture capital firms, accelerators, incubators and startup hubs, met with the President of Israel to present a new initiative aimed at integrating underrepresented communities into the high-tech industry. These communities include new immigrants, residents of peripheral areas, Arabs, Ultra-Orthodox Jews and women.

Why is this private initiative needed? First: because there is a disturbingly low participation rate of underrepresented entrepreneurs in the high-tech industry; Second: because the country has been unable, or unwilling, to allocate the resources necessary to properly integrate these communities.

The 'Startup Nations' high-tech field consists mainly of secular men. Based on unofficial statistics, less than 7% of startups are established by women despite them constituting 50% of the population. Arabs and Ultra-Orthodox Jews constitute 20% (each) of the population, but less than 2% (respectively) in the high-tech industry.

As for the second reason, and with the exception of a few specific programs, such as the Chief Scientist's Office, there are very few government-funded programs that focus on the integration of these communities. Those that exist do not focus on startups, but rather on brick and mortar businesses.

Due to the government's limited success in integrating these communities, private initiatives are on the rise, with academia leading by providing commercial legal clinics. These clinics provide free legal services to underrepresented communities and are funded by the universities and private donations. The services are provided by supervised law students looking to do pro bono work and gain practical experience. Legal clinics have existed for a few decades, but commercial legal clinics are relatively new, yet growing at a meteoric rate: today there are over 100 - many in leading institutions such as Harvard, Stanford and IDC Herzliya. The uniqueness of these clinics lies in their focus on commercial and high-tech related aspects.

In addition to the increase in quantity, there is also an increase in quality: the clinics have become more proficient, increased their social impact and have begun international collaborations. For example, in March 2017, Queen Mary, University of London hosted a conference for commercial legal clinics, and just this week (June 27th), IDC’s Legal clinic for startups in Herzliya hosted students from the commercial clinic of the University of Amsterdam in order to learn from each other's methods and promote international collaboration. During their IDC visit, the students will visit one of the leading high-tech law firms - Pearl Cohen, the international Israeli Startup - Wix, and other industry leaders.

To summarize, based on recent statistics, it is clear that the number of private initiatives will continue to rise and that commercial clinics will play a major role in the integration of underrepresented communities into the high-tech field. The only question is how much of an impact they will have - the main challenge being lack of funding. If these clinics - who are already experienced in providing the necessary services - were able to join forces and receive funding from the government or VCs, their impact would be substantially higher.

Adv. Assaf Ben-David is the Director of the IDC Legal Clinic for Startups, and Eilon Morag is a law student at the IDC.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 28, 2017

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2017

Haredim in high tech photo: Ariel Yerusalimsky
Haredim in high tech photo: Ariel Yerusalimsky
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