Online Legal Cafe
The Sustainable Economies Law Center provides direct legal support to individuals and groups who are working to create new solutions for resilient local economies. The Resilient Communities Legal Cafe provides sliding-scale donation-based legal advice, via Zoom, by appointment.
If you need advice about starting a worker-owned cooperative, converting an existing business into a cooperative, organizing a housing cooperative, founding a nonprofit or other social enterprise, please RSVP below! Here are some questions we will be prepared to answer:
❖ Radical real estate law: How to form a housing cooperative, real estate cooperative, or nonprofit housing?
❖ Legal formation for small businesses: What are the regulations and requirements to have your organization legally function?
❖ Legal entity choice: Should your org be a for profit, non-profit, and which legal entity fits best with your vision?
❖ Employment law: Whether you're an employer, employee, or a cooperative, we can answer questions on how to prevent or resolve issues?
❖ Tax law: What are the ways to receive tax exemption for your org?
❖ Contracts: Contract review, drafting, and negotiation
❖ Liability issues: What are your governance requirements to avoid liability?
❖ Environmental law: Do you have questions about how to create more green spaces for your community?
❖ Worker Self Directed Nonprofits: How can you run your nonprofit organization more like a worker-owned cooperative?
Note: We especially encourage Black, Indigenous, people of color, and low-income communities to RSVP. We focus on cooperatives, participatory or democratic nonprofits, land trusts, and mutual aid groups. If you need Spanish Language or American Sign Language interpretation, please email Hope ([email protected]) with Subject Line "Interpretation Request - for [mm/dd/yyyy] event." We will do our best to accommodate your request.
Keep an eye out for an e-mail when you RSVP. The e-mail will have your appointment slot, instructions on how to attend our Legal Cafe remotely, and an intake form that we need you and your partners to fill out.
Format: You and/or your group will be paired with a lawyer for 30-45 minutes to get answers to questions about entity formation, contracts, governance, and more! Since we're based in Oakland, our event times are listed as Pacific Standard Time.
Got any questions? E-mail [email protected]!
Only one person per group needs to RSVP.
Online Legal Cafe
The Sustainable Economies Law Center provides direct legal support to individuals and groups who are working to create new solutions for resilient local economies. The Resilient Communities Legal Cafe provides sliding-scale donation-based legal advice, via Zoom, by appointment.
If you need advice about starting a worker-owned cooperative, converting an existing business into a cooperative, organizing a housing cooperative, founding a nonprofit or other social enterprise, please RSVP below! Here are some questions we will be prepared to answer:
❖ Radical real estate law: How to form a housing cooperative, real estate cooperative, or nonprofit housing?
❖ Legal formation for small businesses: What are the regulations and requirements to have your organization legally function?
❖ Legal entity choice: Should your org be a for profit, non-profit, and which legal entity fits best with your vision?
❖ Employment law: Whether you're an employer, employee, or a cooperative, we can answer questions on how to prevent or resolve issues?
❖ Tax law: What are the ways to receive tax exemption for your org?
❖ Contracts: Contract review, drafting, and negotiation
❖ Liability issues: What are your governance requirements to avoid liability?
❖ Environmental law: Do you have questions about how to create more green spaces for your community?
❖ Worker Self Directed Nonprofits: How can you run your nonprofit organization more like a worker-owned cooperative?
Note: We especially encourage Black, Indigenous, people of color, and low-income communities to RSVP. We focus on cooperatives, participatory or democratic nonprofits, land trusts, and mutual aid groups. If you need Spanish Language or American Sign Language interpretation, please email Hope ([email protected]) with Subject Line "Interpretation Request - for [mm/dd/yyyy] event." We will do our best to accommodate your request.
Keep an eye out for an e-mail when you RSVP. The e-mail will have your appointment slot, instructions on how to attend our Legal Cafe remotely, and an intake form that we need you and your partners to fill out.
Format: You and/or your group will be paired with a lawyer for 30-45 minutes to get answers to questions about entity formation, contracts, governance, and more! Since we're based in Oakland, our event times are listed as Pacific Standard Time.
Got any questions? E-mail [email protected]!
Only one person per group needs to RSVP.
The Practical Guide to Starting a Legal Cafe is Now Available
By Sustainable Economies Law Center Staff Attorney, Cameron Rhudy
It’s Here, it’s Here, it’s Finally Here! Our Guide to Starting a Legal Cafe
Over the years we have received many inquiries from attorneys who want to start legal clinics in their community that resemble our Resilient Communities Legal Cafe. In response, we have created our Practical Guide to Starting a Legal Cafe, a comprehensive guide for how to do just that. In the guide you will learn how to get the basics of your Legal Cafe in place and how to create that unique Legal Cafe experience. The guide also includes sample intake documents and a breakdown of tasks for scheduling and planning your Legal Cafe.
Read more|
Start Your Own Legal Cafe |
Thank you for your interest in starting a Legal Cafe in your community. Below you will find a working draft of our "Practical Guide to Starting a Legal Cafe."
View and Download the Practical Guide to Starting a Legal Cafe here
NOTE: This guide is a work-in-progress and will be updated as we continue to improve upon our Legal Cafe and receive feedback from those interested in starting a Legal Cafe in their community. So please help us continue to improve this guide by sending your questions, feedback, or comments about the guide to [email protected].
DISCLAIMER
THE CONTENTS OF THIS GUIDE SHOULD NOT BE RELIED ON AS LEGAL ADVICE.
ALSO, SOME OF THIS INFORMATION COULD BECOME OUTDATED, AND LAWS AND REGULATION OF THE PRACTICE OF LAW VARIES FROM PLACE-TO-PLACE. FURTHERMORE, ALTHOUGH WE TRIED TO COLLECT ACCURATE INFORMATION, SOME INFORMATION IN THIS GUIDE COULD EVEN TURN OUT TO BE INCORRECT OR SUBJECT TO OTHER INTERPRETATIONS BY COURTS OR REGULATORS! WE SURE HOPE THAT’S NOT THE CASE, BUT, WHAT CAN WE SAY? LAW AND REGULATION OF THE PRACTICE OF LAW IS COMPLICATED STUFF! THAT IS WHY WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU REFER TO ANY APPLICABLE LAWS, RULES, AND REGULATIONS THAT APPLY TO THE LOCATION OF YOUR LEGAL CAFE.
About the Guide
In February of 2013, the Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC) created an unusual “legal clinic” that we call the Resilient Communities Legal Cafe (Legal Cafe). Three years later, after providing legal support to more than 500 enterprises and organizations, and offering workshops for more than 2000 attendees, we have come to believe that the Legal Cafe is one of the most important and impactful projects our organization has ever created. The Legal Cafe has been instrumental in the launch of countless new micro-enterprises and organizations because of its community-oriented approach and unique strategy for providing accessible grassroots legal advice to community-focused entrepreneurs and change-makers. Part of that strategy was transforming the experience of receiving legal advice into a welcoming, lively, and empowering one for clients. In 2014, we received meritorious recognition from the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services for our innovations in legal service delivery.
We have heard from groups around the world who are interested in replicating the model. This Guide represents our best attempt to document lessons learned and share resources we have created. Our Legal Cafe has evolved in many ways and we are constantly improving it. We hope to update this Guide regularly by incorporating new ideas not only from SELC’s Legal Cafe, but also from groups that start their own Legal Cafes based on this model.
Find out what others say about their experience at the Legal Cafe!
Advice
We want to live in a society where reliable and affordable legal support is available to all those creating the transition to localized, resilient economies.
The primary way that the Sustainable Economies Law Center provides legal advice is through our Resilient Communities Legal Cafe.
The Resilient Communities Legal Cafe provides direct legal advice, workshops, teach-ins, discussions, and legal services to businesses and organizations that are trying to make their communities a better place to live. Legal advice is provided on a first-come, first-serve basis, so no appointment is necessary. Find our where the next Legal Cafe is and sign up here!
At the Legal Cafes, our staff and volunteers specialize in serving cooperatives, nonprofits, cottage food businesses, social enterprises, urban farms, complimentary currencies, time banks, and small businesses. We provide advice and legal consultations around the following legal areas:
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Legal formation for small businesses
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Legal entity choice
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Employment law
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Securities law
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Tax law
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Contracts
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Liability issues
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IP agreements and licensing
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Environmental Law
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Food Safety Laws
Seeking ongoing legal representation?
Due to limited staff capacity, the Sustainable Economies Law Center very rarely provides ongoing legal representation. Nearly all of our past clients have come through the Resilient Communities Legal Cafe first, so why not start there?!
We are only able to provide low- or no-cost legal advice because of the generous support of people like you! Support our capacity to provide legal services for a people powered economy here and see why others support our work here!
Upcoming Fall Events!
On Sunday, September 21st, over 300,000 people from across the globe gathered in the streets of New York to demand action on climate change. Here in the Bay Area, we're co-creating a solutions-based movement to transform our economies - read on for all the ways to get involved in the coming months!
IN THIS EVENTS BLAST
A Fall Celebration, Conferences, Workshops, Happy Hours, Oh my!
Building Resilient Communities: Summer 2014 Newsletter
Video: Strategies for Democratizing Urban Land Use
Video recording of a teach-in and community conversation hosted at Sustainable Economies Law Center's Resilient Communities Legal Cafe, July 02, 2014 at LOL Makerspace, including 350 years of American land enclosures in 5 minutes!
Community Currencies Program July Newsletter
Sustainable Economies Law Center has been on the money lately! Below is the latest news from our Community Currencies Program, including links to upcoming webinars, our online legal resource library, and information about our recent legislative advocacy!Legal Cafe Feedback Survey
Pay-it-Forward Legal Advice for the Sharing Economy
Please help us create a more effective and accessible Legal Cafe by taking a few minutes to answer our questions as honestly and thoroughly as you wish. Skip any questions you want.
*Sustainable Economies Law Center will never share your identity, contact info, or address. The purpose of this survey is to help us evolve our programming and to understand our community better. Please do NOT uncheck the box "Send me email updates" unless you NEVER want to be contacted by the Sustainable Economies Law Center again.
From everyone at the Law Center, we thank you!
Take the survey
