Program set up to help minority businesses
To give Black and other minority business owners access to similar networks that some whites enjoy, central Ohio’s largest law firm has introduced a new legal service program.
Vorys Sater Seymour & Pease has launched its Initiative for Business Empowerment to support minorityowned businesses with free legal services, based on recipients’ size, needs and revenue. The service provides help such as creating an LLC, setting up operating agreements, providing assistance on trademarks and copyrights, determining if a worker is a contractor or employee and crafting an employee handbook, said Janay Stevens, a Vorys senior associate and the lawyer behind the project. The commitment to social change has to go beyond platitudes, says Stevens, who is also president of the local John Mercer Langston Bar Association
for Black attorneys. Stevens shared her views recently with Columbus CEO.
Tell me how this initiative came to be. What do you hope to accomplish with it?
Stevens: It’s an accessibility issue. It’s trying to connect folks with the right people to get the services or help that they either need or don’t even know that they need to potentially get a business off the ground and running and create that generational wealth. You’ve got to own stuff to be able to pass stuff on. If we can help someone avoid potentially losing their business or ending up in litigation – which can cost an incredible amount of money – by providing some early foundational services, then we’ve accomplished everything we’ve set out to do.
Can you give me some examples of reasons a small business might need an attorney?
Stevens: So far, we have worked with businesses that I would call emerging – just an idea, in the incubator, so to speak. And for those folks, it’s just talking to someone who’s been there and done it – establishing an LLC, getting operating agreements set up. We’ve also had a number of engagements related to employment law services. For folks with a team of folks working for them, what kind of policies do they need to have in place, instead of having piecemeal documents. One of the things a number of businesses have pointed out: Even though they might have been in operation for 15 years, 20 years in some cases, they don’t necessarily have any formal commercial contracts that they use for the exchange of their services. They’re oftentimes emails or handshake-type agreements. We see that as an opportunity to put pen to paper and help you protect your interests.
We’ve had a couple other engagements that are related to some more intellectual property-type work, whether it be trademarking or licensing, to make sure their products and their reputation are protected.
So why do this? Tell me about the commitment that your firm made earlier this year.
Stevens: This year, we’ve all seen a heightened, or an energized, attention to issues facing historically disadvantaged groups, both in this community and from coast to coast. I watched a lot of the reactions to that. The first thing is everyone makes their statements, and that’s great.
It’s good to know, when you’re engaged with a business, how they stand and whether you align with their mission, values, morals.
But to make true systemic change, we’ve got to get our hands dirty. We’ve got to do the work. And we’ve got to put in the time, put in the effort. At the end of the day, this has got to be bigger than 2020.