Minority-Owned and Other Small Businesses

Addressing the Wealth Gap in Our Communities

One of the most important ways to address the wealth gap in this country is to help business founders and owners from underrepresented communities. DWT has many different programs that further this goal. These include a longstanding partnership with the Microenterprise Legal Clinics run through Seattle-based organization Communities Rise. These clinics offer free legal advice to nonprofit organizations and low-income microenterprise entrepreneurs.

Our firm staffs at least one of the monthly clinics per year. Maya Yamazaki, a partner in our Seattle office, spearheads the effort, recruiting participants and helping them prepare. During the clinic, she works to make sure everyone is getting the service they need and that the right lawyers are assigned to clinic visitors based on their subject-matter expertise.

“These are true mom-and-pop businesses that come in for help—a gardener, a food truck, a daycare center,” says Maya. “They have very practical concerns.”

Maya’s own parents owned a small print shop while she was growing up. As a result, she says, “I am personally motivated to provide legal services to these kinds of clients.”

DWT has also partnered with the Lewis & Clark Small Business Legal Clinic in Portland, which is committed to helping minority-owned businesses, including women, recent immigrants, and people from communities of color. The clinic advises these entrepreneurs on issues such as entity selection and formation, protecting intellectual property, lease review, and employment law. We currently have a handful of business attorneys working on cases. Associates Adam Waks and Christopher Weathers lead the firm relationship with the clinic.