About the Law Office Hours

Advance registration is required by 4:00 p.m. the previous day, and space will be limited. Office hours will start at 9:30 am sharp, and take questions on a first come/first serve basis. Zoom room will be closed at 9:40 am, so we recommend arriving early.

You can and should take charge of legal protection for your community microbusiness by learning how to identify the legal risks in your individual business plan and make wise preventive risk choices. We will help you learn how to do this with a simple process, and then use available free nonprofit legal resources in self-help mode to prevent messy, disruptive, and expensive legal problems before they can seriously damage your business plans.

Join us on the First Friday of each month to learn how to navigate through the complicated and confusing legal system so your community microbusiness can successfully launch, survive, and thrive.

After an introduction to preventive legal risk management methods and resources, we may answer brief questions on any of these topics on a first-come, first-served basis:

• Legal entity choices
• Funding transaction legal issues
• Business contracts of all kinds
• Protecting your intellectual property – ideas, brands, and designs
• Hiring safely – basic labor and employment law
• Commercial leases
• Regulatory compliance

The San Francisco Community Business Law Center is an independent all-volunteer pro bono business law initiative that has no affiliation with any for-profit law firm, and allows absolutely no soliciting or referral of paid legal services to create a safe space for objective learning.

By registering for this program, you acknowledge and agree that:

• This general educational group discussion is not privileged or confidential, and does not constitute a legal consultation or legal advice;
• Your attendance does not establish an attorney-client relationship or obligate The San Francisco Community Business Law Center (the “BLC”) or Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center (“Renaissance”) to provide any ongoing legal services or any follow-up information regarding changes in laws or regulations;
• It will not be possible for the BLC or Renaissance to review or prepare legal documents for you or to individually advise or represent you regarding any legal matter or legal dispute;
• No recording or publication of BLC materials is allowed. Please do not duplicate, quote, or excerpt without specific written permission.
• You are eligible for pro bono legal education and self-help support for local San Francisco Bay Area low-income community microbusiness owners who cannot afford to pay a lawyer; and
• Renaissance and the BLC do not make referrals to for-profit law firms or legal service companies and do not permit any program participant to solicit or refer to for-profit law firms or legal service companies (or other similar for-profit professional firms).

All clients must register for classes via your client portal account. Here’s how you can do it.
Already a Renaissance Client? 

Log in to your client portal and access the calendar at the top of your screen

New to the Renaissance Community?

Get started by filling out a client interest form and attending an orientation. 

*All clients must complete an interest form and attend orientation before signing up for classes.*

The Women’s Business Center is funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, conclusions, or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the SBA. All SBA programs or cosponsored programs are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made, if requested, at least 2 weeks in advance. Contact: Isla, Isla@rencenter.org, (415) 348-6227