RALEIGH - Matthew Lighthouse, an intellectual property and business attorney, has been appointed director of Campbell Law School's Hutchens Business Law Clinic, Dean J. Rich Leonard has announced.

The Hutchens Business Law Clinic, which is located at Raleigh Founded, 509 West North St., provides free legal services to early-stage companies through upper-level law students, supervised by Lighthouse, focusing on real-world business and legal challenges such as entity formation, contracts, equity compensation and compliance.

Lighthouse has worked at a number of nationally recognized intellectual property and litigation firms and is licensed to practice in North Carolina and Illinois.

"I have trained younger associates in the minutiae of intellectual property for over a decade," Lighthouse explained. "As an adjunct clinic professor for the Hutchens Business Law Clinic, I am able to marry three of my deepest passions: Startups, teaching and service.

"First, I have worked with startups my entire career, helping innovative individuals build their businesses from scratch and secure their intellectual creations.

"Second, I have spent more than a decade teaching and training students (via the Boys & Girls Club), law clerks (at Saper Law) and younger attorneys (at Ice Miller and Loza & Loza).

"Third, I have routinely served my community by volunteering, providing pro bono work, and delivering free seminars to underprivileged areas."

Lighthouse has represented entrepreneurs, startups, small businesses, A-list celebrities and Fortune 500 companies in developing, protecting and enforcing their trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, publicity rights and general business interests before the U.S. Copyright Office, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and in state and federal courts. He regularly counsels clients across a range of industries, including the food and beverage, consumer product, health care, medical device, media, telecommunication, software, cryptocurrency, energy, entertainment and fashion industries.

"For more than a decade, my life's work has been helping companies, small businesses, entrepreneurs and artists protect and enforce their intellectual property," Lighthouse said. "The Hutchens Business Law Clinic is the perfect place for me to train the next generation of lawyers to do this important work."

Lighthouse earned his bachelor's degree in political science and government, philosophy, history and world literature from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2009 and his JD from DePaul University College of Law in 2013. He moved to North Carolina with his wife in 2024.

The clinic's re-launch was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Aug. 7, 2025, funded by a generous donation from the Hutchens Law Firm in Fayetteville.

Learn more about the clinic at this link.

ABOUT CAMPBELL LAW SCHOOL

Since its founding in 1976, Campbell Law School has developed lawyers who possess moral conviction, social compassion, and professional competence, and who view the law as a calling to serve others. Among its accolades, the school has been recognized by the American Bar Association (ABA) as having the nation's top Professionalism Program and by the American Academy of Trial Lawyers for having the nation's best Trial Advocacy Program. Campbell Law boasts more than 5,000 alumni, who make their home in nearly all 50 states and beyond. In 2026, Campbell Law is celebrating 50 years of educating legal leaders and 17 years of being located in a state-of-the-art facility in the heart of North Carolina's Capital City.

Lisa Snedeker Writer