Black Lives Matter Lawyer Resource Page
Alt Legal Team | June 19, 2020
Under the best of circumstances, starting or running a law firm is difficult. For people of color, societal disadvantages and institutional racism complicate issues even further. Below you will find resources for starting or running a practice in general as well as additional organizations that work to support and promote businesses (including law firms) founded by people of color. If you’re feeling generous, you’ll also find a list of organizations who would love to put your donations to good use.
Have other resources we forgot to mention here? Email us at [email protected].
IP Practice Tips
What is Trademark Docketing – A primer from Alt Legal on trademark docketing and docketing software.
IP Practice Starter Kit – Alt Legal has put together a handy kit with everything you need to know before starting and growing your own intellectual property practice.
IP Practice for the Next Generation – An article from Alt Legal about the future of IP practice.
Guides to Starting a Practice
Starting a Law Firm: A Complete Guide – This guide from The Lawyerist highlighting some important points and to get you started in the right direction.
Also check out The Lawyerist’s book on the same subject – The Small Firm Roadmap.
How to Start a Law Firm: Startup Checklist – This quick checklist will help you get your office up and running and identify issues to consider.
How We Hire – A helpful guide from Alt Legal setting forth best practices for hiring new employees.
EEOC – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person’s race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
US Small Business Association (SBA) – The SBA is fully dedicated to small businesses and provides counseling, capital, and contracting expertise as the nation’s only go-to resource and voice for small businesses.
Business Development and Marketing Tips
National Urban League You Tube Series – Digital Career Success – This professional development series helps members of the NUL’s Young Professional chapters and other diverse job seekers develop new skillsets that will enhance their careers. The Digital Career Success Series is a sequence of professional, educational webinars that cover numerous topics, ranging from personal finances to maximizing your resources while in the job search.
Alt Legal Webinar: Nailing Your Niche: Establishing Expertise to Generate Publicity – Alt Legal- hosted a webinar featuring IP attorney Caroline Fox for a discussion of how to find your own legal niche and generate publicity.
Alt Legal Webinar: Marketing in the Midst of the COVID-19 Crisis – Alt Legal hosted a webinar featuring legal marketing consultant Stefanie Marrone discussing how to market your law firm during a crisis.
Technology
Lawyering in a Technological Age – An article from Alt Legal discussing the ethical considerations lawyers must consider when adopting technology.
Blacks In Technology – A global platform for Black women and men in technology, BIT serves members through community, media and mentorship. BIT provides resources, guidance and challenges members to establish new standards of innovation.
Dream Corps Tech – Dream Corps Tech is a national program cultivating future leaders and entrepreneurs from underrepresented backgrounds, creating a pipeline of diverse talent that will shift the culture of the tech sector.
All Star Code – All Star Code creates economic opportunity by developing a new generation of boys and young men of color with an entrepreneurial mindset who have the tools they need to succeed in a technological world.
Black Girls Code – Black Girls Code introduces programming and technology to young and pre-teen girls of color who will become builders of technological innovation and of their own futures.
Minority Owned Businesses – Funding, Mentoring, Start-up Advice, and more.
U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) – The MBDA promotes the growth of minority-owned businesses and offers extensive information on grants and loans and government contracts, including current opportunities.
US SBA 8(a) Business Development Program – The US Small Business Association’s 8(a) Development Program provides training, mentorship, an
d protected access to federal contract options to organizations at least 51 percent owned and controlled by U.S. citizens who are economically and socially disadvantaged. Socially disadvantaged individuals are those who have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias within American society because of their identities as members of groups and without regard to their individual qualities.
National Minority Supplier Development Council – The NMSDC advances business opportunities for certified minority business enterprises (MBE) and connects them to corporate members. Apply for certification to become a MBE.
Accion Minority-Owned Business Loans – Accion is a nonprofit, community organization dedicated to helping small business owners succeed and thrive.
Organizations and Blogs Centered on Diversity
ABA Diversity and Inclusion Center – The Center promotes collaboration, coordination, and communication to advance ABA Goal III – to eliminate bias and enhance diversity and inclusion throughout the Association, legal profession, and justice system.
ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession – The Commission promotes diversity and inclusion within the legal profession and the ABA by facilitating the entry, participation and retention of diverse lawyers.
ABA Women of Color Research Initiative – This research and accompanying toolkit explore the unique experiences of women of color in the law, who face bias and other obstacles due to the intersectionality of their gender and race.
Black Entertainment Arts and Sports Lawyers Association (BESLA) – BESLA is a nationally recognized leader in legal education and professional development for lawyers and professionals in the entertainment, sports, and related industries.
Metropolitan Black Bar Association – The purpose of the MBBA, a unified citywide association of African American and other minority lawyers, is to advance equality and excellence in the pursuit of justice, aid the progress of Blacks and other minorities in the profession, address legal issues affecting the citywide community, and foster the study of law by encouraging the personal and professional development of young lawyers and law students.
National Black Law Students Association – The National Black Law Student Association is a national organization formed to articulate and promote the needs and goals of Black law students to effectuate change in the legal community
Black Enterprise Magazine – An online magazine which provides business news, educational tools and minority business trends, as well as networking opportunities for African Americans.
Where to Donate Money and/or Time
Leg Up Legal – Leg Up Legal provides mentoring and career advice for prospective and current law students.
Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle – LBS is a grassroots think-tank which advances the public policy interest of Black people in Baltimore through: youth leadership development, political advocacy, and autonomous intellectual innovation.
The Innocence Project – The Innocence Project exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Scholarships – LDF is America’s premier legal organization fighting for racial justice. Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans.
National Urban League – The League is a historic civil rights organization dedicated to economic empowerment, equality, and social justice. The League promotes economic empowerment through program areas that include education and job training, housing and community development, workforce development, entrepreneurship, health and quality of life.
Black Entertainment Arts and Sports Lawyers Association (BESLA) – BESLA is a nationally recognized leader in legal education and professional development for lawyers and professionals in the entertainment, sports, and related industries. BESLA offers several scholarship opportunities for students attending historically Black law schools.
Metropolitan Black Bar Association – The purpose of the MBBA, a unified citywide association of African American and other minority lawyers, is to advance equality and excellence in the pursuit of justice, aid the progress of Blacks and other minorities in the profession, address legal issues affecting the citywide community, and foster the study of law by encouraging the personal and professional development of young lawyers and law students.