SBA's restaurant fund lost in court. The Targeted EIDL Advance grant program could be next - The Business Journals

Leonard Johnson, shareholder in the firm's Finance and Real Estate groups, is quoted in The Business Journals article, "SBA's restaurant fund lost in court. The Targeted EIDL Advance grant program could be next."

"The Targeted EIDL Advance program is likely subject to challenge on similar grounds as the recent decisions on the 'priority period' applications related to the restaurant relief program," said Leonard Johnson, a shareholder at law firm Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC, in an email. "Part of the issue is that you could have a person or business in exactly the same economic situation who isn’t located in a low-income community who is not eligible, while the other party is, simply by virtue of where the business is located. I would be surprised if similar challenges are not brought, although I don’t have any feel for how likely they are to be ultimately successful."

"This is not just an SBA program issue, but an issue for government programs generally anytime that there are either groups having specific characteristics that allow them an advantage or access not generally available to everyone," Johnson said.