Communities Rise offers FREE monthly legal clinics to provide legal assistance to Washington-based small businesses and nonprofits! Legal clinics are held virtually via Zoom video call. Qualifying clients are paired with an attorney for a free 1-hour limited engagement legal consultation to discuss business-transactional matters, such as questions around:

• Incorporation and application for tax exemption status (general questions only)
• Federal Tax-Exempt Status (general questions only)
• Nonprofit Governance
• Business Entity Formation
• Maintenance and Compliance with State and Federal Law
• Advice on Corporate Governance
• Taxes (general questions only)
• Employment
• Real Estate
• Intellectual Property 
• Risk and Liability Assessment

Please keep in mind that questions which can be answered in a short amount of time are best suited for the clinic due to the 1 hour appointment time limit. As such, the clinic is not suited for document review of documents (leases, contracts, bylaws, Articles of Incorporation, etc) that are longer than 4 pages.

To learn more about our legal clinics and what legal matters we can and cannot assist with, please view our Clinic FAQ.

Our legal clinics are intended for small businesses and nonprofits who meet the eligibility requirements- click here for small business eligibility information. For nonprofit clinic appointments, priority is given to nonprofits with annual budgets under $500,000.

To request an appointment or for more information, please email legalclinic@communities-rise.org. Please note: Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate same-day appointments. Due to the logistics required in setting up the clinic, we recommend requesting an appointment 7-10 days prior to the desired clinic date.

All clinics will be held virtually via Zoom until further notice.

Can’t attend this clinic? Don’t worry, these clinics occur monthly!

Our partnerships are important to us and we are thankful to Ventures for their collaboration in serving small businesses at our legal clinics!

This clinic is exclusively for small businesses and nonprofit organizations and does not provide legal services for individual or personal concerns. Consultations are by appointment only and often fill up quickly, please reach out to legalclinic@communities-rise.org to learn more.