We were lucky to catch up with Keren De Zwart recently and have shared our conversation below.

Keren, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Early in your career, how did you think through the decision of whether to start your own firm or join an established firm?

I was committed to practicing transactional business law even before law school, so when I was finishing law school in the midst of the Great Recession, I was really focused on how to stick to that. I had interned at a very small corporate and securities firm during my summers, and they just couldn’t afford to offer me a full-time job when I finished law school. I had an offer from a civil litigation firm, and although it was better pay and, in total honesty, I was lucky to even have a full time legal offer at that time because of the state of the economy, I took a risk and convinced the corporate firm to hire me anyway. Because I had a rapport with them from interning for 2 summers and post-bar, I prepared a presentation explaining how I would cover the cost of my (very paltry) salary by bringing in business to the firm–something that is not typical of a new associate–and committing to additional projects to help keep the firm afloat in a challenging economy. They agreed, and I began my legal career at that firm doing exactly what I had set out to do. To be honest, I never even considered starting my own firm. I figured I’d work for 7-9 years in corporate law and hopefully transition into an in-house role at a company. The fact that my story lands me owning my own firm 14 years later is not where I saw my career going.

Keren, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

No one really knows why, but I said I was going to be a lawyer since I was about nine years old. No one in my immediate family was a lawyer, but we think my father possibly told me I’d make a good lawyer because of how much I liked to argue, and it stuck. I didn’t consider any other route. I went straight into law school after college, and about six month in, I thought that law might not be for me. For better or worse, I didn’t want to be a law school dropout, so I completed school, took the bar, and starting working as a business lawyer. Somewhere deep down, I liked what I did, but I hated the firm operations and the archaic industry. I started writing newsletters for my firm as part of my marketing efforts, and I turned them into blog posts under the name, Not Your Father’s Lawyer. The idea was that this wasn’t going to be that old school legal advice coming from some highrise office with mahogany furniture where they overcharge and talk down to you. I wanted small business owners to see that legal information could be accessible, written in plain language. And most importantly, I wanted the younger generation of small business owners to really see that your lawyer could be a confidant, a cheerleader, and even a friend. That brand turned into a full business that I ran on the side starting around 2014, and has been my full time firm since 2019.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

My entire business is the result of a pivot. Although I fully intended to climb the corporate ladder, after having children, I realized that it was very difficult to be both an ambitious employee and a present parent. I wasn’t willing to give up either role, so I realized that I would have to create my own version of success by going out on my own. In all honesty, this felt like failure at the beginning. Admitting that I wasn’t going to find success in the traditional sense was very hard. In the end, this pivot was the best thing I’ve ever done. Not only have I found more success in every aspect of business–I’m making more money, the clients I work with are the best, and I fully control how and when I work–but I am present with my kids in a way I never could have been in the traditional law firm setting.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I definitely embody my brand name–Not Your Father’s Lawyer. I cater to small businesses and entrepreneurs who value my time and expertise, but I give a lot of time away. I never wanted to be beholden to the billable hour anyway, but I also truly believe that no matter how much of my time I give away, whether in free consultations or by answering simple questions or making small tweaks in transactions without charging, it’s always worth it for me. I hear over and over how people didn’t think a lawyer like me existed or that they’ve never had such a positive experience with a lawyer. In some ways, that makes me sad, because lawyers really should be a trusted partner in business. But this is exactly what I set out to do, and it definitely sets me apart in my industry.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://notyourfatherslawyer.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/notyourfatherslawyer
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/notyoufatherslawyer
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/kerendezwart

Image Credits
Selena Sorenson, Cami Donahue