Economic Empowerment

To address economic inequalities that disproportionately impact low-income business owners and entrepreneurs, Paul, Weiss is committed to providing access to pro bono legal resources. Our goal is to create more opportunities for the empowerment of local communities and small businesses, enable under-resourced individuals to grow thriving businesses in underserved areas, and, in turn generate wealth for themselves, their families and their communities. These efforts also reflect our commitment to ensuring that our transactional attorneys have significant opportunities to engage in pro bono matters.

We are involved in numerous economic empowerment initiatives and programs:

• In partnership with the Robin Hood Foundation, New York City’s largest poverty-fighting organization, Paul, Weiss hosts a Legal Health Check-Up Initiative, an annual initiative that provides pro bono transactional legal support, including governance reviews, for poverty-fighting nonprofit organizations that are grantees of the Foundation. Through the Initiative, our lawyers also provide transactional and operational advice to members of the Catalyst Program – a Robin Hood program focused on social innovators and technology platforms that aim to address challenges faced by low-income New Yorkers.
• In collaboration with Start Small, Think Big, one of the leading organizations in New York City serving under-resourced entrepreneurs, Paul, Weiss assists low-income business owners and entrepreneurs on an ongoing basis. Our attorneys assist with many legal matters, including structuring the company, drafting contracts and leases, accessing funding and grant opportunities, and understanding debt obligations.
• Paul, Weiss hosts a variety of virtual clinics to provide transactional legal counsel to local and small businesses based in New York City. Attorneys advise small business owners on a variety of issues, including company formation and structuring, access to funding, commercial contract assistance and more.
• Paul, Weiss regularly hosts trainings to assist low-income entrepreneurs with business-related legal issues, ranging from entity formation to understanding legislation that may affect business operations and reporting obligations.