event summary

The Value of Legal Services for Minority Business Owners:

focusing on the importance of legal support and its unique challenges for minority businesses

LegalCORPS co-hosted a lively panel with the Minority Business Growth Association on March 12, 2021, titled “The Value of Legal Support for Minority Business Owners.” The panelists, who received warm introductions from MBGA founder Mary Rappaport, included: 

  • Steven Y. Reeves, General Counsel, Johnson Brothers and LegalCORPS Emeritus Board Member

  • Henry Jiménez, Executive Director, Latino Economic Development Center 

  • Kwame Osafo-Addo, Staff Attorney and LegalCORPS Program Manager 

Reeves, who facilitated the discussion, said the mission of LegalCORPS is to answer any legal question except for those concerning litigation. He emphasized the importance of helping business owners understand the big picture; for example, an owner may hold a patent, which is really just a first step. They might need help setting up a business enterprise to monetize their invention. LegalCORPS wants owners to be aware that the nonprofit’s volunteer lawyers are available for help early on as a business is taking shape. 

Osafo-Addo and Jiménez echoed the sentiment of helping entrepreneurs understand the process of operating a business. Many are immigrants or children of immigrants who need help navigating the web of rules and regulations for businesses, not to mention the tax system. “They don’t know what they don’t know,” Osafo-Addo said, adding that these entrepreneurs also lack access to capital as well as professional connections and networks. Jiménez also cited the challenges for owners who lack permanent residency or a Social Security or Tax Identification Number.

Jiménez said his agency can help discern what is a legal problem and what is a business problem. They can save thousands of dollars for business owners by steering them in the right direction, sometimes in the space of a 10-minute conversation.

The panel did not shy away from the painful issues confronting minority business owners, including the destruction after the killing of George Floyd and the toll of COVID-19. Businesses on Lake Street and Payne Avenue were struggling before the pandemic, Jiménez said, and many are barely making it. “We were in the business of creating businesses,” he said, “and now we are in the business of saving them.” 

Last year was terrible, Osafo-Addo concurred, but the business community is starting to revive. COVID-19 taught LegalCORPS to be more flexible, leading to virtual legal services and recruitment of more diverse volunteers to assist diverse owners. “Our work is becoming more effective, more impactful over time,” Osafo-Addo said. “I am very optimistic about the future.”