Eric Menkhus, JD, MBA

Eric Menkhus is Director of the College of Law’s Entrepreneurship and Small Business Clinic (ESBC). The ESBC provides legal advice to early-stage startups and ongoing small businesses. JD students are considered practicing attorneys while in the ESBC under Eric’s supervision, learning how the practice of law works via “live client” experiences. Eric re-joined the ESBC as Director in Fall 2023.
From 2012 to 2023, Eric led the College of Law’s efforts in new initiatives, including expanding online learning and growing the College of Law’s master’s degree programs as Associate Dean, New Education Initiatives.

Eric joined ASU Law in 2004, acting as the Director of the Innovation Advancement Program, where he worked with students from across ASU – the College of Law, W.P. Carey School of Business, Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Barrett, The Honors College – to provide essential services to technology start-up companies and entrepreneurs with ties to Arizona.

In addition to his teaching at the College of Law, Professor Menkhus speaks on a wide array of topics to a broad spectrum of audiences, including guest lecturing in engineering and business courses on legal topics such as business-entity formation and intellectual property protection. He has also taught the Essentials of Law for Managers course in the W.P. Carey Evening MBA Program and has been invited to multiple conferences and panel discussions associated with the Ewing M. Kauffman Foundation – the nation’s preeminent charitable foundation – focused on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial education. Additionally, Professor Menkhus has been chosen by the Arizona Commerce Authority as a judge for the Arizona Innovation Challenge, as a panelist for Arizona Innovation Challenge winners’ presentations, and as an IP expert for the PIII Playbook SBIR training program.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering, juris doctorate, and master of business administration, all from Arizona State University.