Community Economic Development Clinic 2025 Highlights
The 2025 CEDC Cohort: (l-r, back row) Mason Cashman, Ashley Scott, Garrett Freiling, Anya Szentes, Braden Courter, Elena Gifford, Cesar Montalvo Guerra; (front row) Mikayla Dietzenbach, Sydney Bruny
The Community Economic Development Clinic (CEDC) continues to make a meaningful impact across Colorado by providing pro bono transactional legal services to entrepreneurs, small business owners, and nonprofit organizations. This academic year, the CEDC’s student attorneys are building on the clinic’s strong tradition of service and innovation as they work with a new cohort of clients and lead community workshops. The clinic remains dedicated to its mission of delivering accessible, high-quality legal support to underserved communities throughout the state and beyond.
Student Attorney Highlights
Mason Cashman, Ashley Scott, and Anya Szentes are advising clients on corporate governance, entity formation, and contract drafting. Their work includes preparing operating and licensing agreements, reviewing bylaws and volunteer agreements for compliance, and drafting privacy and conflict-of-interest policies. They are also researching best practices for nonprofit governance and developing memoranda on liability waivers, intellectual property protection, insurance coverage, and worker classification.
Braden Courter, Sydney Bruny, and Cesar Montalvo Guerra are assisting clients with entity formation, corporate compliance, and applications for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. Their projects include drafting bylaws, operating agreements, and articles of organization, as well as preparing memoranda on corporate formalities and nonprofit structures. They are also advising clients on intellectual property, contractor and supplier agreements, and non-disclosure agreements. In addition, they are providing legal advice regarding unpaid internships, board recruitment, and strategies for maintaining corporate compliance.
Elena Gifford, Garrett Freiling, and Mikayla Dietzenbach are supporting clients with entity formation, compliance, and professional licensing matters. Their work includes drafting operating agreements, bylaws, and partnership contracts with universities and service providers. They have also prepared memoranda on corporate formalities, tax considerations, HIPAA compliance, and risk management, and analyzed the implications of operating across state lines in regulated professions. In addition, they have reviewed contracts and provided practical legal guidance to help clients launch and grow their ventures responsibly.
Workshops and Community Engagement
The CEDC continues to expand its educational programming and community outreach by hosting a series of workshops addressing timely legal and business issues. Workshops this year include understanding student-athlete Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) agreements; entrepreneurship opportunities for individuals reentering society after incarceration; emerging blockchain technologies; and the legal foundations of starting and managing food-truck businesses, to name a few.
CEDC Faculty Highlights
Professor Joe McKay, director of the CEDC and visiting assistant professor, joined the University of Denver in 2023 after serving as assistant clinical professor and assistant director of the Business Law Clinic at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Passionate about strengthening Colorado’s legal and entrepreneurial ecosystems, Professor McKay hosts dozens of workshops each year and has forged partnerships with organizations such as the Center for Community Wealth Building, the African Chamber of Commerce of Colorado, and the City and County of Denver’s Office of Economic Development & Opportunity, among others.
Professor McKay sits on the board of two nonprofits. In January, he will begin serving as co-president of the Society of American Law Teachers while continuing his work as secretary of the Cryptocurrency Education Initiative.
