Support Small Businesses. Support the Legal Services That Help Them Thrive.

Legal Aid for New Entrepreneurs is the only legal aid organization in Chicagoland focused exclusively on transactional legal support for entrepreneurs.

📊 83% of small business owners say legal services are essential, but 60% go without them due to cost.

Without legal support, they risk entering into risky legal contracts or being exploited because of a lack of knowledge.
⚖️ LANE offers free legal help with issues such as business formation, contracts, trademarks, and leases.

Our goal is to help with a strong legal foundation now to avoid costly litigation later. We want our small business clients to see us as a partner in growing their business. We partner with community organizations focused on helping entrepreneurs who typically lack access to legal support to create strong referral partnerships and offer legal education workshops and clinics.
📈 We’ve helped more than 120 businesses since May 2025, with the support of over 150 volunteers from 25 law firms and corporations.
But, our clients are far more than numbers. They are people like Meg. Meg was looking to start her own sales consulting firm. She was excited when she found her first client and was ready to start work….But then she got nervous. She realized that this client was a direct competitor with her former employer and her blood went cold. She remembered that her last employer had her sign an agreement when she started working there and she was sure it said something about direct competitors. A friend of hers had heard about LANE, and so she reached out. We were able to quickly get in touch and realized that a first step was to connect her with an employment attorney to go over this agreement with her so she could understand what she could and could not do. After all, her livelihood hung in the balance! We connected her with an employment attorney who went over the agreement and gave her the assurances about how she could run this business. Feeling confident, she was now ready to take the next step. She reached out again, and she is now working with another attorney through LANE to draft her customer agreement!

We do what we do for Meg and the many other entrepreneurs who want to feel confident in growing their businesses.
Your gift today helps us reach more entrepreneurs. Your support as an individual donor ensures we can keep growing.

Help LANE create thriving communities!

Every dollar supports small businesses with free legal services

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