Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelsey Shofner.
Kelsey, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I am a corporate lawyer. I went straight “in-house” after I graduated from law school. This is different than the traditional path of clerking for a judge, working for an established law firm, and then moving to a corporate in-house job. I knew that I wanted to be a corporate transactional lawyer, so when the opportunity arose to be at an in-house job immediately, I jumped. Because I was a new lawyer, the job was a little bit of a trial by fire, but I loved it.
I quickly ingrained myself in the business development process, working with that team to create proposals, Non-Disclosure Agreements, Master Agreements, and Scopes of Work. I worked with the HR Director to advise on employment law issues and I also worked with the Executive Team on business strategy from a legal perspective – what could the business do and what legal effects would business decisions have. I loved being able to work with the business teams and be a part of growing the company.
After six years, at the end of 2019, I decided that it was time to move on to a different role. I spent the first part of 2020 working with a career coach, trying to figure out what the next step in my career path would be. As the pandemic began to pick up steam, I realized that what made the most sense was to start my own legal practice. I know that starting a business at the beginning of a global economic shut down seems crazy, but I really felt like this was the right time for me to go off on my own. My current clients are start-ups and small businesses. I work with them to establish their business and help it grow through proactive legal advice. With so many people being forced to go out on their own, either because of layoffs, furloughs, or family and childcare situations, I believe that I have the opportunity to get in on the ground floor with some amazing businesses and help them grow.
Has it been a smooth road?
So far, the road has been a bit bumpy but nothing that I haven’t been able to get over. I started the business completely from scratch. I had my laptop, my cellphone, and a chair in my bedroom (my husband was using the home office while his office was shut down during Dallas County’s Shelter-in-Place order). I drafted a business plan and budget, built my own website, have done all my own advertising and marketing, and spent hours a day cold-calling and emailing contacts and potential clients. Some lawyers who start their own practice leave another job with some clients in hand. Because I left a company that still has another lawyer on staff, there was no work for me to take with me. All the clients that I have I have found on my own through networking, online legal directory advertising, and social media marketing.
We’d love to hear more about your practice.
I am a corporate lawyer and I advertise myself as a “Small Business Attorney.” I work with start-ups and growing businesses as an extension of their team.
As an entrepreneur, especially a solopreneur, you wear every single hat at the beginning. It is important to find experts who can help you run your business smoothly. Some business owners tell me that they “haven’t needed an attorney yet,” because they have not had any customer disputes. My philosophy is that every business needs a lawyer from the get-go. Structuring the business, creating a contract document to use with customers, protecting the company’s intellectual property, and creating legal and workable employee policies should be done by an attorney trained in corporate work, and not by Google, JD.
Because I am a small business owner myself, I recognize that outsourcing and hiring experts is expensive. I also know that when people hear lawyer, they see $$$. To set me apart from other corporate lawyers and help make my services accessible to my small business clients, I work off of a flat-rate model. This means that a client knows exactly how much they will pay me and exactly what deliverable they will receive. My clients can communicate with me freely, without having to worry about receiving a bill for a 15-minute phone call (times a high hourly rate). I keep my flat-rates at a reasonable level by running a fully virtual office. I work out of my house with a laptop, a large monitor, and cell phone. I utilize an online client management platform that allows me to communicate with clients, upload their documents, send invoices, and collect payment. I take advantage of Zoom and FaceTime to “meet” people while we are unable to meet in person. Almost all of my marketing is done online through attorney directories and Social Media. My clients are not paying to cover the overhead expenses associated with a physical office space and support staff.
I have two lines of business, projects and subscriptions. Projects are one-off services that have a finite deliverable at the end. These include forming the business entity with the State, creating a customer contract package, creating website terms & conditions, and filing a federal trademark application. Subscriptions are ongoing monthly legal advice and counsel, plus projects. I work with my clients to set up subscriptions that meet their legal needs. Some clients just need advice and counsel. These subscriptions include unlimited communication with me and unlimited customer contract review. Others need on-going project work, so I build in the ability to do 1-3 projects per quarter or per month. In any case, my clients rely on me to answer questions and help them feel comfortable with the legal aspects of their business.
I am proud of my ability to help small businesses access legal service in the early stages of their business and work to avoid disputes and legal issues down the road. I also love that I can balance my two great joys in life – my family and my legal career. I have two young kids and being able to set my own schedule and attend their school events without guilt is a huge plus for me. I also love being a lawyer and working with my clients to solve problems and I cannot imagine not doing what I do for work.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
From a business perspective, I love that Dallas has a thriving and diverse economy. Even with the global economic slowdown, Dallas’s business community continues to adapt and evolve. From a personal perspective, I love my East Dallas neighborhood. My family loves going to White Rock Lake and Flagpole Hill. There are a ton of locally-owned restaurants in our immediate area and the neighbors are open and friendly.
Dallas does have a diversity problem. Legacy redlining has created segregated neighborhoods and people want to live in the “good” neighborhoods and “good” school zones. I wish that we could all break out of our bubbles and get ingrained with neighbors who are not far away geographically but sometimes feel worlds away in terms of educational and economic opportunities.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shofnerpllc.com/
- Phone: 214-506-6768
- Email: kelsey@shofnerpllc.com
- Instagram: @shofnerpllc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shofnerpllc
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/shofnerpllc
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/shofner-consulting-pllc
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