Pending guiltypleasurez - Grant Application

[guiltypleasurez]

Firm Name
ObsidianLegal LLC

Which grant pool are you applying for?
Law Firms

How do you plan on using your grant funding?
We are a newer legalfirm that has seen a great interest in our services being especially focused on the "regular" citizens legal issues, we are growing and are already a team of 3 lawyers. In order to help us grow and get a foothold in the DC legal counsel-sphere we are applying for a grant for:
1. Talent hiring and retention: 20.000 (x1 Managing Partner & Mentor 7000, 2x Lawyers 4500, 1x Junior Layer 4000)
2. Training and test fees: 12.500 (Training courses in property- and criminal-law: 10.000 Refunding test fees + covering future fees: 2500)
3. Legal-Office Down payment: 20.000 (Partial payment for a permanent office location to build stability and trust)
4. Creation of a fund for taking on Pro-bono cases: 12.500

Ideal Grant Amount 65000

If awarded, I intend to use the grant money allocated to me for its intended purpose on which it was approved for, and provide a breakdown in my application thread of how the funding was used.
Yes

 

[EATB]

Hello @guiltypleasurez I have some follow up questions concerning your application.

• The grant application states a focus on “regular” citizens’ legal issues. Could you provide 2-3 specific previous examples of common legal issues found in the Commonwealth of Redmont that ObsidianLegal has helped tackle?
  
• With an existing team of three, what evidence (e.g. case load, inquiry volume) demonstrates the urgency and necessity for a R$65,000 investment to expand your workforce, rather than organic growth?
  
• Financial Sustainability: Outside of the one-time grant funding, what is ObsidianLegal’s long term business strategy to ensure continued operations post grant expenditure?
  
• Hiring & Retention: The grant allows for R$7,000 for a Managing Partner & Mentor, and R$4,000 for a Junior Lawyer. What specific criteria will be utilised to select new recruits and how will their roles enhance the firm’s ability to serve “regular” citizens? Would this money be enough to retain their employment long term, and will any non-monetary benefits be offered to keep them invested?
  
• Pro-bono fund: R$12,500 is being requested for this fund. How many pro-bono cases are you projecting to take on? How will ObsidianLaw measure the success and impact of the work created by this fund? Grant applications are meant to create a tangible economic and community benefit to the Commonwealth of Redmont.
  
• Training and Deployment: R$12,500 is allocated for training and deployment. Are these primarily for test fees charged by the Department of Education, or will this also imburse employees with salary whilst being trained? Will there being any internal training materials produced that this grant aims to cover?
  
• Office Down Payment: R$20,000 - Is the office location a purchased plot, a rental? We do not cover paste fees with our grants. Please elaborate on the expenditure here.