Brooklyn hosts legal expo for small businesses

November 20, 2014 By Charisma L. Troiano, Esq. Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Small business owners attended the Small Business Academy on Wednesday. Photo courtesy of the Small Business Academy

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Dozens of small business owners flocked to Brooklyn on Wednesday to take advantage of free legal advice on a myriad of issues.

The one-day Small Business Academy, which is in its second year, brought together corporate law firms, financial services consultants, city and state agencies and law students to provide free consulting services. Workshops were also held on starting and managing a business or nonprofit and on finding solutions for small business owners with legal and financial challenges facing organizations.

“The success of the Small Business Legal Academy last year confirmed our hope that offering no-cost, high-quality legal services to a large volume of start-ups and micro-entrepreneurs in a day-long clinic format would have a positive effect on their ability to create jobs and improve their communities,” said Brenna DeVaney, Pro Bono counsel at Skadden Arps.

Brooklyn Law School’s Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship hosted Wednesday’s academy.
“Small business is the lifeblood of urban communities,” said Annie Mohan, manager of Pro Bono with law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham. “Small Business Legal Academy is the perfect place to learn from the experts about what it takes to launch and manage a business or a nonprofit in today’s environment.”

Law firms involved in the organization of the event included Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP; Kaye Scholer LLP; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Latham & Watkins LLP; and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP.

Organizations that partnered for the event included Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A; The City Bar Justice Center; Lawyers Alliance for New York; The Legal Aid Society; New York Lawyers for the Public Interest; Pro Bono Net; Start Small, Think Big; Urban Justice Center; Volunteers of Legal Service; Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts; and Brooklyn Law School’s Center for Urban Entrepreneurship.