Entrepreneurs of Color

The Entrepreneurs of Color Program is a LegalCORPS initiative to make business law services accessible, equitable, and inclusive to recent immigrants and Black/Indigenous/People of Color. The goal of the program is to provide free legal support and business law resources to small business owners and those who would like to start a small business who are from historically marginalized communities.

Sound guidance on business law matters is essential to the success of all entrepreneurs, regardless of income. LegalCORPS has an integral role to play in ensuring that entrepreneurs of color, and the small nonprofits who serve historically marginalized communities, have access to legal assistance even if they cannot afford fee-paying relationships with an attorney. By reducing this critical barrier, our pro bono services play a keyrole in starting, maintaining, and protecting the interests of entrepreneurs and business owners, as well as helping our cultural corridors to thrive.

In addition to free legal advice, such as our Brief Advice Clinics, we offer many educational opportunities to help small businesses succeed.

For more information on the Entrepreneurs of Color Program, please call (612) 206-0780 or send an email to info@legalcorps.org.

If you are seeking legal services, click on the Request Assistance button.

Business legal help to low-income entrepreneurs

Video for Spanish-Speakers

Nos complace anunciar nuestro nuevo video en español: el abogado voluntario de LegalCORPS, Inti Martínez-Alemán, nos guiará a través de los pasos para comenzar un negocio en Minnesota en un video completo, que se divide en secciones que abordan temas específicos.

El video completo tiene disponible subtítulos en español. Así mismo, subtítulos en otros idiomas están disponibles a través de la configuración de video de YouTube.

Current partner organizations include:

African Development Center
African Development Center is a social-profit, community developer, and commercial lender working with the African community across the state of Minnesota.

African Economic Development Solutions
African Economic Development Solutions builds wealth within African immigrant communities through economic development activities throughout the Twin Cities metropolitan area. AEDS works to create wealth, lift immigrant communities out of poverty, and contribute to and benefit from the region’s vibrant economy.

Asian Economic Development Association
Asian Economic Development Association responds to the changing needs of the Asian community, developing and offering programs to further advance our mission while sustaining direct engagement of the lower income constituencies we represent. AEDA programs serve both Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Bii Gii Wiin Community Development Loan Fund
Bii Gii Wiin’s mission is to provide training and access to capital in order to to promote home ownership, entrepreneurship, and financial capabilities among American Indian men and women throughout the state of Minnesota.

C.L.U.E.S. (Communidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio)
C.L.U.E.S., serving as a cornerstone for Minnesota’s Latino communities, focuses on enhancing the quality of life, fostering community engagement, and advocating for economic advancement. With an emphasis on cultural respect, it provides a variety of programs designed to empower its community members through education, financial literacy, and career development, tailored specifically to the needs of Latino individuals and families across the region

East Side Enterprise Center
East Side Enterprise Center draws business owners and entrepreneurs from all over Saint Paul’s East Side and surrounding areas. Designed to be a catalyst for business growth across many cultures and ethnicities, the East Side Enterprise Center works to build capacity of existing businesses and attract new businesses to the East Side.

The Enterprise Academy of the Initiative Foundation, Mille Lacs
The Enterprise Academy, following the Entrepreneur Development Model pioneered by the Neighborhood Development Center and its Build From Within Alliance, provides training, lending and one-one-one advising services to start and grow vital small businesses.

The Enterprise Academy of the Initiative Foundation, Saint Cloud
The Enterprise Academy, following the Entrepreneur Development Model pioneered by the Neighborhood Development Center and its Build From Within Alliance, provides training, lending and one-one-one advising services to start and grow vital small businesses.

Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC)
The Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC) runs extensive programming for Latino entrepreneurs, including specialized courses in Spanish on topics such as accounting, marketing, business plans, customer service, and health and labor regulations. LEDC also runs a loan assistance program that is available to medium and small sized businesses in Minnesota.

Sakan
Sakan’s mission is to construct a pathway to homeownership for immigrant families that preserves their religious principles, allows them to acquire accurate financial information and education through classes and financial coaching, leverages their community’s resources, and enables them to successfully buy their first homes

Frequently Asked Questions

No, LegalCORPS assists small businesses and Non-profit organizations throughout Minnesota. It is a statewide organization.

The answer will differ for every client, depending on factors that include the nature of the case, attorney availability, the presence of conflicts of interest, and the number of other cases awaiting placement.

LegalCORPS cannot guarantee that a case will be placed but will make a good faith effort to find representation for an eligible client.

Although placement often takes place within a week after LegalCORPS posts a pro bono opportunity with its volunteer attorneys, the placement process can take weeks.

If a matter is time-sensitive (for instance, it has a deadline) LegalCORPS will attempt to expedite the search process.

Yes.

LegalCORPS does not have ready access to interpreters. However, LegalCORPS can try to arrange an intrepreter’s services when circumstances call for them.

LegalCORPS plans to eventually provide materials in additional languages on this website.

The LegalCORPS application process is thorough in order to ensure that the client receives the appropriate service, the attorney understands the nature of the case and the client’s economic situation, and to avoid conflicts of interest that may prevent representation by a particular attorney.

Knowing the full story enables LegalCORPS to make a fair assessment of eligibility and find the best match possible. (Also, some of LegalCORPS’s funders require it to follow low-income guidelines.)

If a client applies for a second time to LegalCORPS it may not be necessary for the client to send in all of the same materials as before because everything from the first application is kept on file. It is the client’s responsibility, however, to ensure that LegalCORPS has the most up-to-date information in its files.

As long as you are eligible for free LegalCORPS assistance and you present appropriate legal issues, you may continue to receive assistance through LegalCORPS.

NOTE:  Although a person can receive brief advice at a LegalCORPS clinic more than once, LegalCORPS will give priority to first-time users.   LegalCORPS will act to prevent excessive return visits to clinics.   A person also should be aware that multiple brief-advice sessions will not result in the equivalent of full-representation assistance.

LegalCORPS provides free legal assistance exclusively through the services of volunteers. Those volunteers ask LegalCORPS for assurance that the clients LegalCORPS asks them to assist for free are clients that the attorneys would want to assist for free — and who would not have access to needed legal assistance otherwise. Income level is an important factor in determining that.

As part of the legal community, LegalCORPS respects the professional relationships attorneys enter with their clients. If you have worked with an attorney on the same or similar legal issue you are presenting to LegalCORPS, we will notify the attorney and ensure that there is no barrier to LegalCORPS providing representation. We will obtain your permission before contacting the attorney.

Each owner should have separate legal counsel to better ensure that his/her individual interests are adequately addressed.

If all owners are eligible for full-representation assistance, LegalCORPS can recruit separate attorneys for each owner. If owners want joint representation, LegalCORPS will require a written waiver of claims of conflicts of interest, signed by all owners.

If one owner of a business is eligible for full-representation assistance but another is not, LegalCORPS will consider all pertinent cirumstances in determining whether to provide free assistance, and to whom, and whether that assistance will be limited.

In brief-advice settings, rules that govern the practice of law can limit or even prevent LegalCORPS attorneys from providing advice to more than one client at a time regarding the same business.

LegalCORPS determines a client’s eligibility each time the client applies for assistance. LegalCORPS matches attorneys with clients for each new application. For each attorney-client match LegalCORPS makes, the lawyer and client makes a new client representation agreement. It is a good practice to formalize this representation through your own retainers and letters of representation as well.

LegalCORPS understands that attorney-client relationships often build over time, and that an attorney and client might want to continue to work together. They certainly can do so through LegalCORPS, as long as the client meets eligibility criteria. Once a client is no longer eligible for LegalCORPS services, the attorney and client are free to continue their relationship without the involvement of LegalCORPS.

Once a client is no longer eligible for LegalCORPS services, the attorney and client are free to continue their relationship without the involvement of LegalCORPS.

LegalCORPS is dedicated to supporting businesses with pro bono legal services that include drafting and reviewing contracts, filing patents, and offering general business legal advice. However, our scope does not extend to representing clients in legal disputes or lawsuits, including any matters that are or could become the subject of litigation.

Our mission is to assist in foundational legal matters, helping businesses and nonprofits understand their legal obligations and protect their interests in non-contentious matters. If you are currently facing a legal dispute or are involved in a matter that could result in litigation, we advise seeking the guidance of a legal professional who specializes in dispute resolution or court representations.