We recently connected with Jazzy Rippy and have shared our conversation below.
Jazzy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
Our mission at LADIES IN LAW® is to make Legacy Planning accessible. Legacy Planning, typically called Estate Planning, covers how you protect, preserve, and control your assets, finances, businesses, and health decisions, during your lifetime and after. A Legacy Plan is a package of legal instructional documents called Wills, Trusts, and Powers of Attorney.
Legacy Planning is meaningful to us because too often lawyers are left scrambling and putting out fires instead of helping people avoid problems altogether. We want the legal profession to be viewed more like the medical profession, where people take proactive measures and prevent a lot of heartache and headache from occurring. Legacy Planning is a great tool to prevent family members from fighting over assets when someone passes away. We have seen families torn apart due to drawn-out disputes in probate court lasting several years. Siblings have even physically fought over who will have control over their parents’ assets and finances, which is truly disheartening. There is no need for this to happen.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Jazzy D. Rippy and Ameena R. Sheikh (pronounced “shake”) are the Co-Founders of LADIES IN LAW®, a minority, woman-owned law firm in Downtown Detroit. The funny thing is neither Jazzy nor Ameena are from Detroit. Jazzy hails from Cleveland, Ohio, and Ameena is from Lexington, Kentucky. However, both consider the Motor City their home with the entire LADIES IN LAW® team living in Downtown Detroit!
Following law school, Jazzy and Ameena’s paths crossed while working at a prestigious business law firm in Downtown Detroit, Bodman PLC. After honing their skills at the firm but realizing that large corporate law was not their passion, they ended up leaving the firm but initially went in separate directions.
Jazzy pursued her dream of entrepreneurship and started her own law firm geared toward helping individuals. Ameena’s adventurous spirit took her to California, where she became licensed to practice law and worked for a small boutique law firm in Los Angeles. Ameena eventually returned home to Detroit and teamed up with Jazzy to form LADIES IN LAW® in January of 2019.
LADIES IN LAW® specializes in Legacy Planning – the process of protecting, preserving, and controlling your assets, finances, businesses, and health decisions, during your lifetime and after. This is done through Wills, Trusts, and Powers of Attorney. LADIES IN LAW® makes Legacy Planning accessible through attainable pricing, educational outreach, and a streamlined process. Our target clients are everyday Americans who traditionally have not received this service due to lack of understanding or ability to afford other attorneys’ prices.
LADIES IN LAW® has been recognized as a leader in the legal field by Marquis Who’s Who America, National Trial Lawyers Top 40 under 40 Michigan, and Expertise.com. Jazzy and Ameena have been featured in The Michigan Chronicle, Detroit Legal News, Michigan Lawyers Weekly, BLAC Detroit, and Close Up Radio with Doug Llewelyn. Both Co-Founders graduated magna cum laude in the top 10% from their law schools, The University of Toledo College of Law and Wayne State University Law School, respectively.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
The most effective strategy for growing our clientele has been niching down our services and target clients. This allows us to focus our time, energy, and resources in the most impactful and efficient manner. Our business motto is “inch deep, mile wide.”
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
We are very approachable compared to other attorneys, so clients feel more comfortable working with us. Legacy Planning is a highly sensitive topic that many people want to avoid. Unfortunately, avoiding it prevents one from being able to access its benefits. Our approachability helps break the ice for clients to move past their initial fears and find peace of mind.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.theladiesinlaw.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theladiesinlaw/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theladiesinlaw
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ladies-in-law®
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheLadiesinLaw
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWRKf9QaQeRKdGed-ycXoKQ
Image Credits
Bryce Mata