VETERAN ENTREPRENEUR LEGAL POP-UP CLINIC A SUCCESS
September 2022 — Penn State Dickinson Law partnered with the Dauphin County Bar Association (DCBA) and the Eastern Pennsylvania Small Business Administration (SBA) to host a Veteran Entrepreneur Legal Pop-up Clinic on Wednesday, September 7. This clinic, the first collaboration of its kind, was designed to work in tandem with the SBA’s Boots to Business program — a program that provides individuals who are transitioning to civilian life with information on how to start a business.
Professor Samantha Prince spearheaded this event by bringing local attorneys and Dickinson Law students together to assist the entrepreneurs. During the event, entrepreneurs received guidance from the attorneys and law students on how to organize their businesses in Pennsylvania. The law students completed the necessary forms for the startup organizations.
Jeremy Garcia ’23 was one of the Dickinson Law student volunteers. “I was paired with Lauren Stahl ’23, Matts Batryn ’23, and a volunteer attorney. We helped a veteran with domesticating his LLC to help him come closer to his dreams of creating a business geared toward the betterment of other veterans. We assisted with filling out applications, explaining the laws, and establishing a positive interaction with our client,” said Garcia.
Prince has been volunteering and participating in the SBA Boots to Business program for several years. Her role has been to speak on entity selection and formation. Prince said, “Our veterans deserve assistance in any form we can provide. I am grateful that members of the DCBA volunteered to provide free legal assistance and that so many of our law students wanted to be involved in this valuable service. I am excited to expand my role in helping our military. Our pop-up clinic will serve as a pilot program that we hope will be implemented in other areas across the country.”
The goal is to hold two Veteran Entrepreneur Legal Pop-up Clinics annually.
