Free legal advice worth a fortune to small business

LYNN – Summa cum laude, Princeton University. Business consultant with McKinsey and Company in New York City and Mexico City. Cum laude, Harvard University Law School. Jared Nicholson’s resume suggests he could go pretty much anywhere and do anything.He chose an undecorated, windowless office on Union Street and the opportunity to provide free legal advice for low-income entrepreneurs and small-business owners in Lynn.”I thought about a lot of the business clients I worked with before law school and how much they depended on good legal advice in this economy,” Nicholson said Tuesday. “Those opportunities aren’t always in cities like Lynn, and I really care about Lynn.”Nicholson is one of 28 nationwide recipients of a Skadden Foundation Fellowship. The foundation pays salary and benefits for law-school graduates to pursue two years of public-interest work and provide legal services to poor and working poor, elderly, homeless and disabled clients, as well as those clients deprived of their civil or human rights.Nicholson, 28, is leading a new Community Development Practice with Northeast Legal Aid on Union Street. He divides his time between Lynn and Lawrence (although he lives in Lynn), offering low-income local entrepreneurs and small-business owners help navigating the legal challenges of the business world.Nicholson grew up in Sudbury, but said he was excited to come to Lynn. His great-great grandfather was the city treasurer for a period after the Civil War and lived and raised his family in the city.Nicholson also said he was attracted by the idea and potential of Lynn and Lawrence as gateway cities with a small-business-based economy. Both cities also have large immigrant populations which, statistically, are more likely than other demographic populations to start small businesses.But there are legal requirements for starting or growing a small business.Nicholson said these can range from officially forming a business, corporation, or partnership, to signing leases and contracts, complying with regulations and getting permits to operate. A Harvard Law degree can help in this process.Nicholson also can draw from his experience as a business consultant and be an advocate – connecting small businesses with programs that can offer help, helping businesses prepare for an economic downturn, or ensuring that small businesses are represented when making local economic or political decisions.”The kind of small businesses I’m helping are the kinds of businesses we as a city, we as a Commonwealth, care about,” Nicholson said. “I see my role as helping the smallest of small businesses and helping them share in the growth of Massachusetts.”Isaac Hodes of the anti-foreclosure group Lynn United for Change, has already referred potential clients to Nicholson. The two met when Nicholson helped Lynn United for Change as a member and executive director of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.”Through connections in the community and Lynn United, I’m in contact with people all the time who have small businesses and who need some, even a small amount, of legal advice that can really help them to move their business forward,” Hodes said. “A number of people have already connected with and spoken very highly of Nicholson and the work he’s doing.”Lynn Community Development Director James Marsh said his office can help entrepreneurs and small business owners through “the maze of City Hall” to get the necessary occupancy permits and certificates.”But I’m sure that there are things that small businesses need in regards to the law,” Marsh said. “And, definitely, it can’t get any better than Harvard Law School… we’re happy to help play a liaison role between (Nicholson) and any businesses that may need help.”So he has the support, the office space, now Nicholson needs to get the word out and get more clients. He said he has been giving seminars to local business and social-service groups (offering presentations in both English and Spanish) and has reached