To this day, Black-owned startups are still being overlooked in society and not being given the same opportunities as their White-owned counterparts. One local law firm is out to change that. AXS LAW Group, a Miami-based, full-service law firm created by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, has created the AXS LAW Roadmap Initiative, which provides pro bono legal services for Black-owned hospitality startups across the country.
“The AXS LAW family, like so many others around the world, have been deeply saddened by the heinous killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, and so many other Black Americans,” said Michelle White, attorney at AXS LAW Group. “As a firm we are committed to fight systemic racism and to support a community that has always supported us. We are working to make changes within Miami and the country at large, and from that introspection, the AXS LAW Roadmap Initiative was born.”
Applications are ongoing and the committee reviews them based on a variety of factors including financial need, business plans, prior experience and communities served, amongst other criteria. For those clients selected, AXS LAW offers completely free expert legal services such as business organizational structuring advice, entity formation and initial organizational documents, obtaining an EIN in order to set up a bank account, shareholder/partnership agreements, lease negotiation, intellectual property structuring and trademark filing, drafting confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements, and other legal services as needed.
Once selected, hospitality clients meet with experienced corporate attorneys from AXS LAW to assist them on the road of entrepreneurship. The legal teams also provide quarterly follow-ups where they meet with their clients to review and accomplish their evolving legal needs.
The Dana Agency is proud to be working with AXS LAW Group to help pave a new path forward into fighting systematic racism one step at a time. We stand with the Black community to make this much-needed change.
