|
print
|
|
|
email
|
|
translate
|
NC LEAP Announces 21-County Expansion
Article Date: 1/24/2008
The North Carolina Lawyers for Entrepreneurs Assistance Program, a project of the North Carolina Bar Association and the NCBA Foundation, provides free legal services to income eligible low-wealth business owners. After serving a nine-county region in the Triad during its eight months of existence, NC LEAP is expanding into 21 eastern and northeastern N.C. counties.
Announcement of NC LEAP’s expansion will begin with a ceremony at the Edgecombe County Business Industrial Incubator on Monday, Jan. 28, at 10:30 a.m. The industrial incubator is located at 111 Fountain Park Drive in Battleboro.
New Rocky Mount Mayor David Combs will bring greetings and discuss the importance of entrepreneurship in the region. Following the ceremony, attendees will be invited to tour the industrial incubator.
Small business owners will be able to meet with NC LEAP pro bono attorneys to review and discuss any of the wide variety of legal issues which impact their growing businesses from 1-4 p.m. Clinic space is limited and first-come, first-serve reservations are encouraged. Interested individuals should contact Melinda Belcher at 252-442-5178 to reserve a consultation time.
With the announcement of NC LEAP’s expansion, this signature project of the NCBA’s Business Law and Corporate Counsel sections is making significant progress toward its commitment to community growth and development in all 100 N.C. counties over the next six months. NC LEAP also receives support from the Intellectual Property Section, the Bankruptcy Section and Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Law Section. These sections are organizing clinics for NC LEAP entrepreneurs and preparing educational materials on the range of legal issues likely to impact them. NC LEAP will be approaching other sections to support the program as it grows.
“Neglecting the legal health of a business can threaten its operation and limit its future,” said Milan Pham, director of NC LEAP. “Low-wealth business owners often are unable to afford legal health which they need.
“The small business community is a primary driver of our state’s sound economy. Rural and economically depressed areas depend on the growth of small businesses as does our state. We, the business attorneys of North Carolina, are looking forward to helping.”
Counties comprising the new NC LEAP service area are: Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Edgecombe, Gates, Greene, Halifax, Hertford, Hyde, Martin, Nash, Northampton, Pitt, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrell, Washington and Wilson.
Clients must apply for NC LEAP services and must meet the income and asset guidelines. While the legal services will be delivered free of cost, clients will need to pay the cost of any filing fees or administrative costs associated with their legal issue. Individuals must make no more than 80% of the state median income for a family of their size and must generally have less than $8,000 in savings.
The NCBA is the largest voluntary professional legal organization in North Carolina, provides services to attorneys and the general public. The NCBA Foundation is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization closely affiliated with the NCBA and serves as the charitable, educational and public service unit of the NCBA.
Additional information on NC LEAP is readily available through the NCBA Web site, www.ncbar.org, or by contacting Milan Pham, Director of NC LEAP (919-677-0561, 1-800-662-7407); mpham@ncbar.org.
|
