Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kelly Hughes. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kelly, appreciate you joining us today. When you were first starting out, did you join a firm or start your own?

Right out of law school I started my legal career working for a big law firm in Los Angeles. It was great training, but I knew I likely wasn’t going to stay in big law for a long time. I ended up getting an in house job with one of our clients after a few years. After I had my two children I spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted my legal career to look like. I knew I wanted to transition to work with individual people, rather than larger corporate clients. I also wanted to have more control of my own schedule. My dad has always run start up companies and I appreciated the control he had over his own schedule, so I was hoping to find something similar. The legal field is still more rigid than some other corporate cultures, so I reached out to my closest friend from law school, Jenna Glassock, who was running her own practice. She mentored me a lot through what a solo practice would look like, and I decided it seemed like a good point in my career to try going on my own. I opened my own solo practice, but ended up spending a lot of time working and collaborating with Jenna. We were both practicing estate planning and really viewed our practices through very similar lenses. We decided that we work well together and our visions for each of our practices would really be strengthened by working together. We merged our solo practices and rebranded in January of 2022 and it has been such a blessing. I am so thankful to Jenna for encouraging me to try something new and for her guidance and partnership these last few years.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Sure, I am a mom of two young kids and big priority for me is helping families prepare for the unexpected.  When I was young, my mom told me to pick a job where I could help people. My goal is to help clients get through difficult situations as painlessly as possible. The majority of my practice is focused on the planning side for clients. That includes setting up trusts, wills, and incapacity planning documents, which include durable powers of attorney and health care directives. I really believe that a well planned estate is the best gift you can give to your family. My early legal background is in corporate mergers and acquisitions, so I also provide guidance to clients on setting up and managing legal entities. A smaller part of my practice is helping clients with probate or trust administration for family members or friends who have passed. Something unique about me is that I am licensed in both Texas and California, so I am able to help clients transitioning back and forth between both states.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I worked in more formal corporate settings at the beginning of my legal career, which was great training in professionalism. However, when you are an estate planning attorney you are asking your clients to tell you the ins and outs of their families, their wishes after they are gone, and highly personal information. I had to learn to adapt my style so that I was approachable and a trusted advisor for clients. It has been a learning process in balancing professionalism with warmth and empathy. I think softening a little has made me a better lawyer and a better advisor to my clients.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

While I was working as a corporate attorney, my husband was playing professional baseball. Even though the legal field may be rigid, professional athletes work in one of the most demanding industries. There is no option for a day off and often you have no control over the team or city where you play. I had to pivot several times in my career, from working remotely (way before that was common place due to Covid), to moving to an entirely new state and starting a new job in order to keep my family in the same place. While it was challenging, it gave me the confidence to try different areas of law and ultimately start my own practice.

Contact Info:

• Website: ltlfirm.com
• Instagram: ltlfirm
• Linkedin: Kelly Charhut Hughes