Attorney Whitney Standefer-Smith has launched Local Venture Legal, a boutique business law practice geared toward promoting and supporting the growth of ventures in the greater Chattanooga area.
The firm is focused on serving startups and small businesses looking for tailored legal counsel that will not break the bank as well as larger businesses looking for a law firm committed to a more expansive economic development mission, Standefer-Smith says.
“This firm is committed to having a positive impact on our community,” Standefer-Smith adds. “I believe the strength and growth of a local economy is correlated to the success of its small businesses. For this to happen, all entrepreneurs need access to a proper legal foundation and negotiating power.”
Standefer-Smith most recently developed and ran the We Mean Business pilot project at Legal Aid of East Tennessee. The program offered free transactional legal services to small businesses owned by women, minorities and veterans.
Despite the end of that pilot project, Standefer-Smith still says there is the need for accessible, quality legal counsel for small businesses regardless of their available capital. It was from this belief that the concept for Local Venture Legal was born.
For this reason, LVL – so nicknamed for its mission of providing a level playing field for all entrepreneurs – has created a business model which allows startups in their first two years and small businesses with $100,000 or less in gross annual revenue to pay a greatly reduced billable rate of $50 per hour.
For larger businesses, rates are more similar to the market average, but 10 percent of those legal fees will be donated to local environmental nonprofits.
“It’s our small way of creating an immediate local multiplier effect on our clients’ growth into that next level,” Standefer-Smith says.
Information. Follow the firm on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more information on its services, mission, popup lawyer events and highlights of local businesses.
Contact Standefer-Smith at 423 250-3223 or whitney@localventurelegal.org.
Source: Local Venture Legal