Thanks to substantial funding from Wells Fargo and support from Florida A&M University, a legal clinic is being set up to help small and minority-owned businesses.“Black-owned businesses have less access to loans, and often these loans are only available at much higher interest rates,” legal clinic director Mike Dorosin said. That’s where the Economic Justice Clinic at FAMU College of Law steps in.Dorosin says it’s just one way to address economic disparities.”For every dollar that a white family has, a Black family in America has 10 cents,” Dorosin said.Closing the racial wealth gap is an undertaking, but the new FAMU College of Law Economic Justice Clinic in Orlando is tackling it by providing no-cost legal services to minority-owned and underserved businesses.”The clinic will operate like a small non-profit law office where we have law students under my supervision. We’ll provide direct legal services to small businesses, to entrepreneurs who want to start small businesses, to nonprofits that are working to serve minorities in under-resourced communities,” Dorosin said. He says areas like Parramore, Eatonville and other historic African American communities.”Everything from the very beginning, so formation. What form should my business take? Should it be a limited liability? And then once I decide that, what paperwork should I file to make that happen? What kind of permits do we need from the city to open food truck, for example,” Dorosin said. The legal clinic will also network with other agencies to provide technical assistance and non-legal support, like financial counseling.”We will play the legal part, but we know that businesses and people who want to start businesses have broader range of needs than just the legal,” Dorosin said.The Economic Justice Clinic will provide support in the following areas:Business organization and formation Tax exemption application/compliance Regulatory issues (e.g., permitting, licensing, zoning) Contract and lease drafting, negotiation, and review To learn more, there is an open house on Wednesday, Jan. 25 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the FAMU Law School in Orlando, Room 183.You can also call the clinic at 407-254-4000. At the open house, you’ll get a chance to meet the students who will be handling the cases and other community partners.
Thanks to substantial funding from Wells Fargo and support from Florida A&M University, a legal clinic is being set up to help small and minority-owned businesses.
“Black-owned businesses have less access to loans, and often these loans are only available at much higher interest rates,” legal clinic director Mike Dorosin said.
That’s where the Economic Justice Clinic at FAMU College of Law steps in.
Dorosin says it’s just one way to address economic disparities.
“For every dollar that a white family has, a Black family in America has 10 cents,” Dorosin said.
Closing the racial wealth gap is an undertaking, but the new FAMU College of Law Economic Justice Clinic in Orlando is tackling it by providing no-cost legal services to minority-owned and underserved businesses.
“The clinic will operate like a small non-profit law office where we have law students under my supervision. We’ll provide direct legal services to small businesses, to entrepreneurs who want to start small businesses, to nonprofits that are working to serve minorities in under-resourced communities,” Dorosin said.
He says areas like Parramore, Eatonville and other historic African American communities.
“Everything from the very beginning, so formation. What form should my business take? Should it be a limited liability? And then once I decide that, what paperwork should I file to make that happen? What kind of permits do we need from the city to open food truck, for example,” Dorosin said.
The legal clinic will also network with other agencies to provide technical assistance and non-legal support, like financial counseling.
“We will play the legal part, but we know that businesses and people who want to start businesses have broader range of needs than just the legal,” Dorosin said.
The Economic Justice Clinic will provide support in the following areas:
- Business organization and formation
- Tax exemption application/compliance
- Regulatory issues (e.g., permitting, licensing, zoning)
- Contract and lease drafting, negotiation, and review
To learn more, there is an open house on Wednesday, Jan. 25 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the FAMU Law School in Orlando, Room 183.
You can also call the clinic at 407-254-4000.
At the open house, you’ll get a chance to meet the students who will be handling the cases and other community partners.
