On Wednesday, April 24, 2019, MoFo hosted a WE Legal pro bono legal clinic for entrepreneurs, sponsored by Women Entrepreneurs NYC (WE NYC), an initiative created by the New York City Department of Small Business Services to help women start and grow their businesses. WE Legal clinics offer entrepreneurs one-on-one, free legal advice across the five boroughs of New York City in multiple languages.
MoFo partners Ron Aizen, Tracy Bacigalupo, Dario de Martino, and Spencer Klein—with the support of eight corporate, finance, and tax associates—met with clients for one-hour sessions to address their particular business legal needs. The clients submitted legal questions before the meetings, and MoFo lawyers provided helpful advice regarding their biggest business concerns, such as whether to incorporate, how to choose a corporate structure, preparing contracts, and understanding sales tax obligations.
“The entrepreneurs we met were very savvy,” recalls Tracy. “However, much of their legal information was derived from Google searches which can often be misapplied, much to a business owner’s legal detriment. We were able to unravel applicable legal issues and to help steer these entities into a better direction.”
Clinics like WE Legal are designed to help entrepreneurs start, operate, and grow their businesses. The clients who attended the MoFo event represented a wide range of industries, from event planning and professional consulting to wellness services, equipment maintenance and safety, home health care, travel planning, e-commerce, and more. Although the main mission of the program is to increase the number of women entrepreneurs in NYC, it supports both women and minority-owned businesses, from pre-startup through early operating years.
MoFo’s pro bono team is proud to take part in important initiatives, like WE NYC, that empower women and diverse entrepreneurs by providing access to the right resources to start and grow their businesses.
For more information about WE NYC, visit: https://we.nyc/we-legal/.
Visiting International Finance Attorney Sophie Jensen
Corporate Associate Jenny Wang
Corporate Associate Ryan Farha
Tax Partner Ron Aizen and Corporate Partner Spencer Klein