Stephen F. Reed

Stephen F. Reed serves as Clinical Professor of Law at Northwestern University's Pritzker School of Law, where he holds dual leadership roles as Assistant Director of the Donald Pritzker Entrepreneurship Law Center and Co-Director of the JD-MBA Program. He mentors law students in providing transactional legal services to startups, established companies, and social entrepreneurs while teaching core business law courses including Business Associations, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Entrepreneurship Law.

Reed earned his AB cum laude from Princeton University and JD from Columbia Law School, building a foundation for his transition from private practice at Proskauer Rose LLP to academic leadership. His educational journey reflects a trajectory from corporate legal practice to specialized legal education.

His research centers on the intersection of entrepreneurship and law, with significant contributions to business law pedagogy and clinical legal education methodology. Reed explores innovative teaching techniques including humor integration in business law instruction and technology-enhanced learning models, while maintaining practical focus on startup legal challenges and transactional lawyering skills development.

Reed's scholarly output reveals evolving trends toward experiential learning in legal education, with publications addressing generational shifts in clinical teaching, distance learning applications for entrepreneurship law, and the pedagogical value of practical casebooks. His work consistently bridges theoretical legal concepts with real-world business applications.

His teaching excellence has been recognized through multiple prestigious awards:

• Robert Childres Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence
• Dean's Teaching Award
• MSL Outstanding Residential Professor Award
• Outstanding Professor of a Small Class Award

Through the Donald Pritzker Entrepreneurship Law Center, Reed supervises student attorneys in live-client representation while advancing interdisciplinary collaboration via the JD-MBA Program. His clinical supervision model emphasizes hands-on transactional experience, connecting classroom theory with practical legal service for emerging businesses.

Reed leads the Donald Pritzker Entrepreneurship Law Center's pro bono initiatives that serve Chicago-area startups and social enterprises, while co-directing the JD-MBA Program's integrated curriculum that prepares future leaders for careers spanning law and business management.