Helping Small Businesses Through Transactional Pro Bono

The question we are looking at today is: Should businesses get free legal help? When put like that, your gut reaction might be 'No'.

But, the sudden changes caused by COVID-19 have shone a light on how important small businesses are. In fact 89% of US businesses have fewer than 20 employees. Their impact on our lives is not small at all. COVID-19 might have caused many of us to see small business in a different way, but there are lawyers who have been noticing and recognizing small businesses’ value to the community for a long time. These lawyers have worked for decades to strengthen neighborhoods by building partnerships with community leaders and local entrepreneurs.

In this episode, PLI's Pursuing Justice talks with transactional lawyers in Detroit about how they provide pro bono legal help to the small businesses in their community, and how these lawyers have pivoted to meet the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.