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The Small Business Legal Assistance Clinic

Overview

Legal matters, which can be complex and intimidating for business owners, are critical to the start up and day-to-day operations of all businesses. Many small business owners lack the resources to retain full-time legal counsel, potentially exposing themselves to risks and missed opportunities. Touro Law’s Small Business Legal Assistance Clinic brings direct legal services to small businesses on Long Island, providing much-needed support and educational resources to those who need them the most.

The Small Business Legal Assistance Clinic serves minority and women-owned businesses with 10 or fewer employees located in either Nassau or Suffolk County on Long Island. The clinic, funded through a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration, advises clients at no cost on legal issues such as incorporation, negotiation and lease drafting for commercial space, by-laws, employee and personnel practices, and other basic legal issues. It also partners with local organizations to provide regular networking and educational programming for small businesses. In partnership with other local small business organizations, the clinic also provides resources and educational programs to their members.


Criteria

To be eligible to receive legal services through the Small Business Legal Assistance Clinic, certain criteria must be met. The business must:
1. be woman and/or minority owned,
2. have a total of 10 or fewer employees, and
3. be located in Nassau County or Suffolk County, NY

Depending upon the demand for legal services, the clinic may not be able to accommodate all requests for services, even from businesses meeting the eligibility requirements.

Meet the Director

Denise Marzano-Doty is the Director of the Small Business Legal Assistance Clinic and an Assistant Clinical Professor of Law at Touro Law. She is a 1994 graduate of Touro Law Center, where she served as a Research Editor on the Touro Law Review.

Read her full bio here.

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