Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathan Kintzele.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My career started in big law. I’ve spent the past seven years in places like the global law firm, DLA Piper. It was an excellent training ground. Among other things, I learned how to handle complex matters that included high stakes-big money, big consequences. While at DLA Piper, I began establishing relationships with my own clients, and I saw they were paying exorbitant fees. At times, it was difficult to resolve any matter with them because it was simply too expensive. It was frustrating, I knew there was a better way. After months of ongoing consideration, I listened to my gut and took a leap of faith. That’s when I launched my own firm. I had some clients of my own from DLA Piper, which was enough to get me started, and somehow clients came with me. It wasn’t long before my clientele began to really grow. Clients and work didn’t just trickle in, they came fast and kept coming. The firm grew faster than I could have ever expected. The work was fulfilling, and I was handling cases in a way that felt direct, efficient, and human.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I wouldn’t define my journey as a smooth road, but not because of failure and obstacles. It has been a sudden and massive shift that changed my entire sense of being. Running my own firm means I’m constantly “on.” I am so immersed in my work, engaged with my clients and their problems. Their challenges and stories become part of my life. However, that has never bothered me. In fact, it’s something that makes what I do very fulfilling. Getting used to a new way of doing things, living and breathing your cases and clients, going from zero clients to more than 100 in a year and a half doesn’t leave much room to pause. But I also genuinely love what I do, so most days, it doesn’t even feel like work. That said, the transition from a structured big firm to running my own thing was a mental adjustment. I recall asking myself, “Can I really do this? How will I get clients?” But once I launched my own business, things happened fast. The fear of “What if I can’t match my old salary?” disappeared almost immediately. We passed that benchmark within a year, and the firm is still growing exponentially.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Kintzele Law Group?
I think it’s a common denominator: when you’re good at the job, it’s obvious to other successful people. When others recognize your capability, you quickly recognize theirs. My firm’s just more than two years old now. When I started, it was literally just me—no office, no staff, no infrastructure. The first full year, we did over a million dollars. This year, we’ve already surpassed three million. It’s still wild to say that out loud. Something I am very proud of is my firm’s retention. People stick around and are genuinely happy with what we do. I’ve had team members who started as total strangers and are now the backbone of the firm. Our clients stay, too. We’re not just cultivating cases, we’re building real relationships, and that’s important in this field. Everyone’s independent, sharp, and just gets things done. No micromanaging, no drama. We trust each other, and the culture is super low-ego.
What does success mean to you?
To me, success means dominating your field without compromising who you are. It’s about trusting your gut, making the hard decisions, and staying grounded while you do so. As a lawyer, you’re just asserting yourself. That’s what it’s about. You hire a lawyer to fix a problem when you can’t fix it yourself. If someone, a business, or an organization wrongs you, you hire a lawyer to be your advocate and make things right. As a lawyer, you are the problem solver for your clients. You have to be the one to figure everything out and to own it. You must learn not to doubt yourself. In law school, you’re surrounded by smart people all coming up with different outcomes from the same facts. Everyone’s 100% sure of themselves, and you have to have the confidence to say, “No, I’m going with my answer.” So, you learn to trust your gut and stand on your beliefs. It also means building an environment not just for yourself, but for the people around you. I want to work with people who are internally driven and fulfilled by their work, just like me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://klawpc.com/
Image Credits
additional photos 2-4- 1-Mill-2-MDAF-Logo-PMS-3-color-PDF.webp. (n.d.). kintzele.law.
