All business is local—especially here in New York City, where we walk to our favorite coffee shops for morning coffee and corner bodegas for lunch, ride the bus and the subway to school and work, and find respite in many a park, plaza, and playground. More than 180,000 small businesses power that vast web of local networks and form the critical foundation of the city’s bustling and resilient economy.
Recognizing that small businesses are indeed the linchpins of our city and neighborhoods, The Plumeri Center for Small Business Empowerment at New York Law School (NYLS) hosted a panel and community gathering event on February 20 during National Entrepreneurship Week. The event was organized in partnership with our Tribeca neighborhood partners, Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) Small Business and Entrepreneurship Program and Laughing Man Coffee, as the launch of a series of efforts to support Tribeca as vibrant neighborhood with a thriving commercial corridor.
The evening kicked off with a panel of experts providing new insights and key information for small business owners and entrepreneurs, including artificial intelligence (AI) use issues with a focus on privacy and intellectual property laws, contract and other common legal dispute considerations, and a wealth of technical and financial resources provided by the NYC Small Business Services. The panelists were Cecilia Jeong and Madeline Koo of Gunderson Dettmer; Joam Alisme ’14 of Alisme Law LLC; and Natasha Joseph, Assistant Commissioner for Government Navigation and Regulatory Reform at the NYC Department of Small Business Services.
A diverse audience that included Tribeca and NYC small business owners and entrepreneurs, BMCC student entrepreneurs, and NYLS students filled every chair in the lecture hall and engaged the panelists with questions and shared their stories. After the panel discussion, the panelists and attendees mingled in the lobby of The Plumeri Center for lively follow-up conversations.
The Plumeri Center for Small Business Empowerment launched this school year with a generous foundational gift from visionary business leader Joseph J. Plumeri ’15 (Hon.). The Center is a resource hub for the Tribeca and NYC small business and entrepreneurship communities through NYLS’s wide selection of pro bono legal clinics among other programs and initiatives being actively developed with the consultation of the Center’s advisory board.
Nonprofit and Small Business Clinic of The Plumeri Center for Small Business Empowerment
The Nonprofit and Small Business Clinic, directed by Professor Jae Hyung Ryu, is a yearlong clinic, providing upper-level day and evening students an opportunity to provide transactional legal assistance to nonprofit organizations and small businesses.
Experiential Learning at New York Law School
Experiential learning is an integral part of the NYLS education. Through our top-tier programs, we offer students the opportunity to turn theory into practice: Starting in their first year, students participate in counseling, interviewing, and negotiating exercises in their foundational Legal Practice course. During their upper-level years, students may select from a wide array of experiential learning courses to hone their lawyering skills. Together with a comprehensive legal education, these experiential offerings prepare our students for careers in advocacy.