Positioned as a high-end luxury brand that offers comfortable smoking slippers for hardworking women, Saunter began as a dream business for first-generation Korean American sisters Joan and Alison Kim, but like many businesses, their primary concern was finances. “My biggest concern was the cost, like how would we even start a business?” Alison Kim says.
As part of setting up the business, Joan Kim figured legal considerations would cost the young company the most, so she dedicated herself to learning about the law by going to the L.A. Law Library, a community resource, which is where she learned about Michael Chasalow and the Small Business Clinic (SBC) he founded at USC Gould School of Law.
Through the clinic, the Kims were introduced to JD student Campbell Maier, a 2L who joined the program in 2023. A former president of the Fashion and Beauty Law club, Maier was a perfect fit for the needs of a young, ambitious, immigrant-owned company like Saunter. Saunter, in turn, provided a great opportunity for Maier to learn.
“The SBC is designed to provide ‘real world’ experiences for students,” says Chasalow, a clinical professor of law and director of the Small Business Clinic. While lessons at the clinic focus on practical things like forming LLCs or drafting agreements, the other part of the equation is to work with people. “A critical part of the education involves learning to work with a range of clients that have different personalities and different levels of sophistication and then to address the needs of those clients in a way that is useful and productive.”
It is a skill that Maier learned well partly because of the way the clinic was set up. “When you think about legal work, I think when you’ve never done it before, it sounds like a lot of reading and siloed activities. But Professor Chasalow really creates an environment where we can have discussions,” Maier says.
Maier joined the clinic in the summer, in which the first two weeks were dedicated to training. After receiving an introduction on the legal needs of small businesses, each student is assigned different clients to work with and a caseload to manage. As students encounter different issues with their clients, they are encouraged to share their experiences and learnings with their cohort, as well as Chasalow, creating a learning environment with a very satisfying practical application.
Maier added that the clinic and the healthy conversations she’s had about what to do in certain cases has taught her a valuable skill in her profession: how to be comfortable learning — to voice her opinions and to listen to both the teacher and her colleagues. “Conversation is so helpful in understanding the broader picture. You become better when you work with clients, when you draft contracts, when you’re willing to put yourself out on a ledge with [Professor Chasalow]. Maybe something’s wrong, but you’ll learn why it’s wrong, and I think that’s really important,” Maier says.
The Kim sisters and Maier have worked for a year now on many aspects of Saunter, from working on its operating agreement to drafting photographer contracts. Saunter and Maier are now working on an influencer agreement, which the company is planning to use in its next phase: marketing. By providing a stable legal foundation through contracts and agreements, the company’s work with Maier and the Small Business Clinic has prepared Saunter to soar. Joan says, “We feel stable and protected.”
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