8 NORTH AMERICA NEWS / Legal Elite Awards 2017 , Elevate Business Law is a Jacksonville based lawfirm supporting small businesses that offer professional or specialized services. We profile the firmand Founder LaurieMorgan Lee to show the secrets behind its success. Best SME & Business Law Firm - Florida As the lead attorney and owner of Elevate Business Law, Laurie Morgan Lee has a passion for helping small businesses and professionals such as lawyers, accountants, engineers, architects, computer programmers, business consultants, marketers and other service based professionals. Building lasting client relationships is the foundation of her practice – she works alongside small business owners and professionals, providing strategic council to help them reduce risk and grow their businesses. Whether they are experienced business owners or just getting started, Laurie takes immense pride in offering an innovative approach to offering legal services, allowing her clients to get high level, quality legal advice. Elevate's mission is to allow small business owners and professionals to get the legal advice they need in a way that is simple, dependable, and effective. To help support businesses, Elevate also provides free legal information in articles, whitepapers, seminars and interviews on their podcast. Elevate Business Law provides a range of services including business ownership agreements, brand protection, employee agreements, business sales and purchases, negotiations, business structure, business mergers, operating agreements, contract review and drafting, business audits, regulatory compliance, licensing, entity governance, reorganizations, strategy sessions, trademarks, copyrights, software development, app development, data privacy, technology agreements, and custom IT services. Laurie and her team love working with business owners, helping them set their goals and contributing to their achievements. Many of Elevate’s clients first reach out to the attorneys at the practice when they have a business opportunity in front of them and there is a level of excitement and anticipation about how it will work out. Elevate offers them information, knowledge, guidance, advice, and solid legal contracts. The attorneys at Elevate help business owners follow the rules (which aren’t always obvious or intuitive). They help them to do it the right way and protect them and their business from unnecessary risks. To help make things more simple for clients, the firm does not do hourly billing. All their services are provided on a flat fee basis or through their general counsel program. This means the client never gets surprised by a high rate or a project that costs more than expected. To encourage open communication with their clients, all emails, phone calls, and meetings are STB17001 Contact: Laurie Morgan Lee Contact Email:
[email protected] Address: 4446-1A Hendricks Ave. # 353, Jacksonville, Florida, 32207, USA Phone: 001 904 860 3111 included in the flat fee. During the project, the client always knows where Elevate is in the process and how their team is progressing. If a project includes numerous steps, the firm works through them systematically. From choosing the right business structure to creating a partnership agreement to protect every partner and the business, the business lawyers at Elevate follow a series of steps and keep clients informed along the way. More than anything, Laurie is fascinated with business. As such, she has practiced business law since becoming a member of the Florida Bar in 2003. She likes the way systems are created and how they bring working parts together to form a functioning business. A small business owner herself, Laurie can put herself in her clients’ shoes. She likes creating and building, which led to her decision to start Elevate Business Law in Jacksonville, Florida, where she sees amazing potential among the community of entrepreneurs in the area. From social entrepreneurs to corporate retirees, Jacksonville is populated with every type of business owner. In addition to Jacksonville, Elevate Business Law serves clients in cities throughout the state of Florida. A former educator, Laurie is uniquely positioned to best provide her clients with a clear explanation on legal matters. She makes it easy for clients to understand the legal framework of a business transaction. In addition to helping clients understand their businesses, she also writes many educational articles and participates in speaking engagements. Laurie is involved in her community and is a member of the Jacksonville Bar Association, serving as the vice- chair of the Transactional Law Section. She is also a member of the Business Law Section of the Florida Bar. To conclude, we invited Laurie herself to tell us, in her own words, why she established Elevate. “I founded Elevate Business Law because I wanted to be different. I wanted to feel better about my profession and how we service our clients. Having an entrepreneurial spirit, I decided to create a new kind of law practice - one that focuses on better client service and increased education. I’ve represented all kind of businesses over the years and it’s important to me that my business clients see that legal advice is valuable.”