Confused by your legal or financial options as the spread of the novel coronavirus continues to upend business as usual? You’re not alone — but some lawyers are trying to help.
The Lawyers for Good Government Foundation, a woman-run national nonprofit network of over 125,000 legal advocates, recently launched its new Small Business Remote Legal Clinic to assist entrepreneurs through the pandemic.
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So far, 34 law firms in 30 U.S. cities will be staffing this clinic, beginning with its pilot offering in New York City. Assistance will come from firms like Kirkland & Ellis, Goodwin Procter, Covington & Burling and Cohen & Siegel, among others. Participants will provide legal and financial advice to business owners struggling through the coronavirus crisis.
“Hundreds of thousands of small business owners, many of whom already operate on very narrow margins, are struggling with questions about how their businesses will survive the COVID-19 pandemic,“ executive director Traci Feit Love says. The clinic will assist qualifying businesses with 25 employees or less by giving them free 45-minute consultations to answer any legal questions they have, or to help them figure out next steps for their ventures.
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“Not only do these businesses provide necessary services in communities all over the country, they provide employment, job training, and other benefits to so many hard-working Americans,” Feit Love adds. “[I]t is critical that we do whatever we can to help sustain these businesses and their employees until this crisis subsides.”
Women business owners interested in knowing more about this program in general, or those who may need advice regarding federal, state and local options for their firms, can sign up for updates on the nonprofit’s site.
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