We were lucky to catch up with Roslyn Bazzelle Mitchell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Roslyn, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?

The biggest trends we are seeing is the use of AI as well as additional mass-market companies entering the market offering “flat-fee” aka boxed legal services and products. The biggest concern with AI in legal work is the ethical and data privacy concerns. In addition, the state specific law as well as ensuring that any case law or statutory references are current is of primary concern, given the constant changes by our court systems and legislature. Another issue with boxed legal services is lack of customization to the client for the documents and services provided and if there are issues or conflicts that arise, they will still need to engage a lawyer to handle the matter with additional fees and costs which are more than what they would have paid if they hired an attorney to handle the matter from the beginning.

I handle trademark applications and registrations and have been engaged by clients to fix errors in applications and/or respond legally to inquiries for applications that were initially filed using an online legal services company. Trademark applications filed with the USPTO are examined by an attorney in their office. Once examined, the attorney sends correspondence identifying the legal or other issues with the application. If the client is unable to respond to the legal issues within the correspondence and/or they unknowingly failed to properly file the application (understanding the legal requirements related to the submission), the online companies will send them a referral to then engage a contract lawyer and/or referral to provide a formal response for an additional fee. The client has already paid a flat fee amount to the legal services company, which would have typically covered both the legal and filing fees if they had initially hired an attorney to handle and is now forced to pay additional funds to fix and/or have a proper response submitted to the USPTO.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I was born in Texas and raised in Delaware before attending Hampton University (BA, 1996) in Virginia and Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law (JD, 1999) in Texas. I begin my career clerking with Honorable Charles H. Toliver, IV with the Delaware Superior Court assisting the judge with a 6 month civil / 6 month criminal trial docket. In 2000, I was hired by Jackson Walker, LP in Dallas, TX and worked in their corporate securities section for a few years, before moving back to Houston, Texas and transitioning to a small general practice firm. After experiencing a mixture of litigation and transactional work at the Houston firm, I found my niche in the commercial real estate, business and trademark/copyright areas. In 2006, I moved to Weycer Kaplan Pulaski & Zuber, PC’s real estate group and worked with the firm for 17 years handling commercial real estate transactions (all property types) across the US in amounts of up to $125 million per transaction, business matters (corporate organization, creation and contracts), trademarks and copyrights.

In September of 2022 I stepped out on my own and formed RBM Law Group as a boutique firm providing personalized legal services to meet the ever-changing needs of my clients. With over two decades of legal experience handling corporate, real estate and intellectual property matters, my goal is to help my clients do what they do best, which is operate their businesses, while I support and handle their legal needs. I am driven by my own passion for business and creativity to chart a path toward establishing a more diverse, inclusive and equitable group of attorneys to advance the knowledge and decrease the gap of disparity for the businesses and individuals RBM Law Group represents.

I am most proud of the work we accomplished during our first year as RBM Law Group. We have assisted well over 100 clients throughout the year, handling transactions (acquisitions, sales, corporate res-structures or financings) for commercial real estate based companies or entities with a total overall value of at least $145 million, created 14 new entities and filed, maintained or registered 20 trademark or service marks with the USPTO.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

My best source of new clients are my existing clients and attorneys I know or previously practiced with. I am very grateful for the relationships made over the past 24 years of my legal career which have been essential in establishing new clients to sustain and grow RBM Law Group.

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

When I moved back to Houston, TX in 2003 and began working at a small firm, I was handling both litigation and transactional matters. I was a relatively young lawyer trying to find my path in the legal arena. During that time, I began to discover that learning how to handle stress, the work-load and interaction with both clients and adverse parties was the key to whether or not I would have a successful legal career. I learned over that time period, that I do my best work when handling transactional related matters, which means, I prepare, negotiate and work deals (which involves numerous contracts) to the closing. Handling disputes through litigation (going to court) took a tremendous toll on my mental and physical health. As a result, I pivoted to handling only transactional based matters and moved to a different law firm which better suited my personality and would assist with the advancement of my career.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rbmlawgroup.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roslynbazzelle/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/roslynbazzelle/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roslynbazzelle

Image Credits
MP Photography Moni Pradier