Truly, a law firm for the Millennial Generation
New Leaf Legal, Boston-born and currently located in WorkBar on Atlantic Avenue, is a brand new firm of young lawyers out to make a difference in the entrepreneurial world by being entrepreneurs themselves.
It’s nothing new. Lawyers start firms all the time. But that doesn’t mean they diverge from the practices in use at massive law firms when they strike out on their own. That’s where New Leaf differs. (Hence the name.)
“[Being a startup] gives us a real opportunity to relate,” says Jessica Manganello, a corporate law specialist at New Leaf. “We’ve worked with a lot of startups, and the fact that we’re doing this ourselves takes the ‘ivory tower’ element out of it. We can relate.”
New Leaf Legal, comprised of Steven Shapiro (27), Shannon Jamieson (26) and Manganelo (28) is all about what Jamieson calls “social professionalism.” What does that mean? They’re trying to build lasting relationships with their clients by being themselves, not suits looking to start the timer as soon as someone calls.
In fact, New Leaf Legal doesn’t event charge hourly rates like normal law firms.
They’ve re-invented what personal services are about by making them personal again. Need legal advice? They’ll negotiate a quick and painless round figure with you for the completion of the project.
“We want our clients to consider us part of the team,” says Manganello.
“Most startups you talk to will be the first to tell you, ‘Yeah, we were founded in the last 6 months,’” points out Shapiro. “With professionals, for whatever reason, there’s this idea that you want to downplay that. You want to say, ‘My firm’s been here since the 1800s.’ Part of what we’re saying is that we have experience — the same kind of experience that a serial entrepreneur would have — but we are growing and we’re new and we understand what you’re going through.”
To be sure, the New Leaf Legal team has experience working at other law firms. They all met at Suffolk Law and struck out on their own for a few years before joining forces at their “startup.” They point to the fact that they’ve “been profitable since Day 1″ as proof that transparency can be part of a legal team’s identity. They also represent musicians and artists, but Boston-based startupers really like working with them, it seems.
Massachusetts-based startup clients include The Second Glass and The Zen Kitchen.
“New Leaf really helped us get a real-world perspective on a ton of the legal jargon in our operational procedures when they wrote it up with us,” says Tyler Balliet, President of The Second Glass. “Just like we try to describe wine in terms young people will understand, they made what could have been a nightmare legal document easy to understand.”
Being comfortable with their youth and transparent about their personalities is already paying off for the New Leaf team, because they know they’ve broken the mold in terms of what people expect from lawyers.
“This has been refreshing for people,” says Jamieson. “And it’s been a lot of fun for us. There are a ton of great lawyers out there, but that added level of being personal has been really nice.”
To learn more about the New Leaf team, follow their firm on Twitter: @NewLeafLegal. You can also find them individually on Twitter: @MangoJess, @sShap, and @sjamieson. Plus, their site includes individual blogs by each of them pertaining to their individual areas of expertise.
Tags: Company Profiles, New Leaf Legal, The Second Glass, The Zen Kitchen
