The month of May marks a national celebration of the 28 million small businesses across the country, employers for over half of American workers. In furtherance of this special focus, the San Francisco-Marin Lawyer Referral and Information Service (LRIS) will launch its Business Law Center (BLC) to better serve the more than 85,000 small businesses and entrepreneurs who call San Francisco and Marin Counties home.

In partnership with the Chambers of Commerce in San Francisco and San Rafael, San Francisco’s Office of Small Business, the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, Golden Gate Business Association, and district merchant associations, LRIS is broadening its services of legal consultation and representation to best meet the legal needs of our merchant communities.

From business formation to dissolution, contracts, commercial tenancy, employment law, and more, a range of legal expertise is available through the BLC. The BLC is for small business owners, micro businesses and start-ups to obtain 30-minute legal advice and assessment sessions in legal topic areas of need. Mediation and conflict coaching services are also available, at far less than the cost of litigation.

The BLC will also offer presentations to the business community on topics of interest throughout the year.

These presentations first began with two events in April. Steven Kronenberg, Veen Firm, served as the legal expert on food safety law at the Golden Gate Restaurant Association’s two-day conference. Then, in partnership with the San Francisco Office of Small Business and attorney Martin Orlick of Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Mitchell, updates and education for small businesses owners about the American’s with Disabilities Act was broadcast live on radio station KALW.

Later this month you can catch us another BLC seminar presentation at the San Francisco Small Business Week with Business and Intellectual Property Rights LRIS Panelist Amy Anderson. She will be discussing how to protect business and personal assets from unforeseen threats. A discussion of website policies, non-disclosure agreements, terms of sale and use, conflict resolution, outsourcing goods and services, and dealing with creditors and fraud, will be covered.

For more information about the Business Law Center and San Francisco Small Business Week, please visit www.sfbar.org/lris-business-center and www.sfsmallbusinessweek.com

LRIS receives nearly 50,000 calls annually from the businesses and individuals in need of legal representation. BASF’s LRIS is a State Bar Certified Lawyer Referral Service, ABA model referral service, and well-known nationally for its outstanding legal assistance to the public and merchant community.

Refer with confidence those clients outside your practice area with business law needs:

415-989-1616 or www.sfbar.org/lris-business-center. To join LRIS, contact Yvonne Ng, LRIS Membership Coordinator at 415-782-8950 or yng@sfbar.org.