Silicon Valley’s Michael Wiley and Nicole Nemirofsky have represented a variety of pro bono clients through Legal Services for Entrepreneurs (LSE), which 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 persons of color, who want to start or develop for-profit businesses and certain for-profit businesses committed to community economic development.  Among the many activities we have helped with are: assisting in the pursuit of a new business venture; negotiating distribution agreements between an artist and an online distributor; and assisting Spanish-speaking clients in the formation of an LLC.

SUCCESSFUL REPRESENTATION OF STRUGGLING BUSINESS OWNER RESULTS IN DISMISSAL OF LAWSUIT

San Francisco’s Monica Patel and Jeffrey Kudon recently obtained a dismissal with prejudice of a collection action filed in New York against our San Francisco client, the proprietor of a struggling one-woman hair salon.  The plaintiff was a lessor of credit card processing equipment and sued based on a contract that included a New York forum selection clause.  Persuading a well-regarded handwriting expert to provide her services pro bono, our attorneys established that the signature on the contract was a forgery.  Our client contracted with another party for the processing of credit card transactions.  That party then apparently forged her signature to other documents, including the long-term equipment lease that was the subject of the New York suit and other documents “authorizing” withdrawals from our client's bank account.  It appears that this was not a discrete event and that widespread fraud may have been perpetrated on many unsophisticated and non-English-speaking small businesspeople.

Seattle attorneys also give business advice for a variety of causes. A few examples: Mike Dotten serves as corporate counsel for non-profit health services agency, Health Bridges International and Don Percival represents Villa Academy. John Hanley and Louisa Barash offer corporate advice to the Fifth Avenue Theatre Association and the Washington Public Affairs Network, among others. A number of Seattle attorneys, including David Wilson assist Jump start, an organization that provides pro bono legal advice for "micro-enterprises" established by persons in the immigrant community. Kevin Kelly and Alison Freeman-Gleason represent PATH in various vaccination projects and Pamela Charles and others represent clients in securing federal tax-exempt status.