Today we’d like to introduce you to Jack Kennedy.
Jack, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Dating back as early as my first year of high school, my fondest memories revolve around starting my own businesses. I started my first company in high school with nothing more than an idea that I wanted to try my hand in the graphic design. While this enterprise was only successful for three years, it taught me a lot about the basic concepts of business. I then founded another company in college and partnered with a print shop, creating designs for student organizations on campus. Eventually, this partnership dissolved as I began preparing for law school, but again taught me a lot about the inner-workings of a business.
The first memory I have of wanting to be an attorney was in the later years of high school when a teacher, who I had grown close with, made a seemingly innocuous comment one day about how great of an attorney I’d make one day. I assumed then she was teasing me because of how much I enjoyed debating with her and my classmates about, well, anything really. I kept in touch with her through college and when I finally asked her years later why she felt I would make a great attorney, she revealed that it was clear at an early age I was a steadfast advocate for what I believed in. This moment of revelation became the nexus where my passion and talents, which are zealously advocating for the interests of business, intersected.
Fast forward to my second year at of law school when I met my mentor and business partner, David Lee. As an intern, I was assigned to work with David, who was the lead transactional attorney at the firm, and an immediate bond formed between us because we both had the same vision for how a law firm should run and operate. Over the next two years, I continued to work full time for David while also attending law school full time. Upon graduating, David and I decided to branch out to form our own firm, Lee Shome & Kennedy, LLP (LSK), and implement our own vision, which is to be a valuable partner to our clients.
Clients often refer to law firms in general as “necessary evils,” which exposed what we felt was the main problem existing in the legal community – lawyers are only utilized after a problem has surfaced. Being entrepreneurs ourselves here at LSK, it became our mission to work closely with our clients to prevent problems before they arise so that our client’s businesses can run efficiently and cost-effectively.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I can’t recall a time where I have met a business owner, in any industry, who has said it’s been a smooth road. I believe this to be especially true for any new law firm. Ideologies play a huge part in the psyche of business owners when it comes to choosing law firms to represent their interests. Popular culture paints the picture that huge, international firms are the only firms that can handle international and large market-cap clients.
The constant reinforcement of these archetypes creates a difficult environment as it relates to a boutique law firm attempting to engage multinational and large market-cap clients – whether or not the boutique firm has the experience, knowledge, and staffing for such an operation. Overcoming this stigma was, without a doubt, the most difficult struggle that LSK, as a boutique law firm, had to endure. It took persistence and resilience, coupled with time before multinational clients employed our boutique firm. However, once we earned that trust, our reputation for dedicated attention and quality work spread quickly.
Please tell us about Lee Shome & Kennedy, LLP.
LSK is a boutique law firm that provides legal counsel in the fields of corporate and business law, investments and securities regulations, wealth management, intellectual property, and real property. Our firm specializes in the fields of mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and transactions, business formations and incorporations, business analytics, startup strategies, trademarks, general in-house counsel for businesses, and business litigation.
My fields of practice consist primarily of mergers and acquisitions, corporate transactions and governance, securities regulations, and startup strategies.
LSK’s primary objective is to deliver value and foster strong relationships with our clients. We feel the biggest failure of the legal marketplace to date is the failure to deliver value that is equitable to the dollar amount paid for legal services. Our goal for every client is to feel that doing business with LSK is an investment in themselves, not an expense. We strive to be partners with our clients by being by their side, protecting their interests and guiding them through the complexities of the law and owning a business. We are passionate about what we do and believe in being true advocates for the law.
We founded LSK with these principles in mind. David, Tanya and I were seeing countless firms billing clients for a small fortune on an hourly basis, despite whether or not the value was delivered. Here at LSK, it’s chiefly about the relationship we cultivate with our clients through constant communication, rather than seeing clients solely as the number of hours that the client can be billed. We aim to create lasting partnerships with our clients built on trust, respect and the value provided. Whether it’s a large or small business entity, every client is equally important and we have a deep respect for the trust placed in us by each client. I am extremely proud to be one of the founding partners of a firm with those values.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
As I previously discussed, my fondest memories of my childhood revolve around starting my own businesses. These experiences helped me develop an understanding and passion for the business that may not have developed otherwise.
Contact Info:
- Address: 7979 Ivanhoe Ave. Suite 400 La Jolla, CA 92037
- Website: www.lskfirm.com
- Phone: (858) 456-3811
- Email: jkennedy@lskfirm.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeeShomeandKennedy/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/leeshomekennedy
Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
