Harper Chen

Challenging but inspiring: my corporate counsel experience at a startup–TCARE Inc.

Harper Chen (JSD’23)

As an international student from Taiwan at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, I was grateful to receive the Pivot 314 fellowship that allowed me to experience entrepreneurship and get involved with the St. Louis community in a meaningful way. This summer, I had the privilege of working as a corporate counsel intern for TCARE Inc., a healthcare technology startup in St. Louis. TCARE’s goal is to support family caregivers by developing a cloud-based system to help care professionals engage before family caregivers reach the point of burnout. To read more about TCARE’s mission and service, please visit their website: https://www.tcare.ai/

My goals for the internship were to transfer my knowledge on contract and business law into practice, to learn about entrepreneurship, and to get a taste of American work culture in a startup company. This 10-week internship was an enriching experience and beyond my expectation; I dedicated my legal profession to the company and gained valuable hands-on experience of an early development stage startup. TCARE treated me like a full-time associate and valued my opinions, which I appreciate. I was assigned actual and meaningful tasks that were crucial and beneficial to the company.

Through my role as a corporate counsel intern, I gained experience providing due diligence legal documents required by TCARE’s investors in support of a multimillion dollar outside investment. In order to complete the due diligence, I reviewed and verified all of software license agreements, intellectual property application documents, past and present employment contracts, stock purchase agreements, and other documents relating to corporate commercial transactions. I also drafted a terms of service agreement for end-user licenses on TCARE’s website, a master service agreement as a template to negotiate with future customers, and a board director agreement for incoming board members. Additionally, by attending several meetings with the TCARE leadership, I got the chance to observe their business strategy-making process. My hope is that upon the completion of my internship, TCARE will have a better legal foundation to develop their business and to support and benefit more needy families.

Working as a corporate counsel in a startup was an unique experience because I have grown not only my legal expertise, but also my understanding of entrepreneurial spirit, business strategic planning, corporate governance and leadership skills. I enjoyed working in TCARE’s fast-paced, challenging, but flexible and inspiring working environment. My favorite memories were going to a Cardinals game and having a potluck lunch with lovely colleagues to bond and forge friendships. I consider myself fortunate to have been able to work at TCARE and to be a part of the TCARE family and will carry this friendship and experience on my next step. Thank you, TCARE!