LEGAL SERVICES FOR ENTREPRENEURS:
Empowering Low-Income Communities

 

Legal Services for Entrepreneurs (LSE) is an economic justice project of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. LSE provides free business legal services to low-income individuals, including women and people of color, who want to start or develop for-profit businesses and certain for-profit businesses committed to community economic development.

The legal services provided by LSE and its participating law firms are limited to business law matters and do not include services related to disputes, claims, or lawsuits. Some examples of the types of business law matters we will help with are: entity formation, intellectual property (trademark, copyright), commercial leases, zoning compliance, employment issues, and customer and supplier contracts.

HISTORY

In 1997, the Lawyers’ Committee formed LSE to assist low-income individuals who desire to improve their own economic well being and that of their communities, and to aid certain businesses that wished to invest directly in distressed neighborhoods. LSE focuses on clients who propose to start or develop for-profit businesses which will enhance the economic infrastructure of their neighborhoods and who have limited access to credit and capital. To date, LSE has assisted more than 1,000 clients.

ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES

When reviewing an application for services, LSE will consider both the individual and his/her business’s impact on the surrounding community. LSE will provide services to higher income applicants only if the benefit they offer to an economically distressed community outweighs their considerable resources. For more information on how to qualify for LSE’s services, please see the attached fact sheet for individuals or contact the Project Attorney.

LSE Application - English
LSE Aplicación - Español

LSE recognizes that women and minority business owners often face special obstacles to forming their own business and/or to accessing legal and other services necessary to expand a business. LSE makes a concerted effort to ensure that its eligibility criteria do not perpetuate these barriers or otherwise unfairly exclude any business from equal opportunity.

Buy Locally from LSE Clients -- See our "Shop LSE" on-line directory of clients who are open for business.

RESOURCES

East Bay Small Business Development Center: offers classes, consulting services and business planning resources for small businesses throughout Alameda County.

The Mission Economic Development Association: provides business technical assistance, loan packaging, and advocacy targeted at minority- and women-owned businesses in the Mission District of San Francisco.

Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, Bayview Business Resource Center, and START UP : provides small business training and support services to emerging and established entrepreneurs in Bayview, Hunters Point, and throughout San Francisco and East Palo Alto.

Women's Initiative For Self Employment: offers a variety of business technical assistance services to low-income women in the Bay Area who want to start or expand their own small businesses.

 

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