Affinity Law Group Featured in Forbes Magazine

Date

Kathleen & Bradley

Affinity Law Group was featured in an article in Forbes, which also ran in both Fortune and Entrepreneur.

 

Read the article below, or download the PDF here.

 

From Startup to Succession

 

A­ffinity Law Group, LLC offers comprehensive, holistic legal and corporate counsel for every stage of the business life cycle.

 

Businesses are dynamic, vital entities born of great ideas and nurtured by the creativity and passion of their owners and employees. As they grow, change, and merge with other companies, and as owners ready them for sale or succession, they require not only leading-edge legal counsel but savvy business guidance.

 

St. Louis-based Affinity Law Group, LLC is a business law firm committed to serving privately held businesses, their owners, and their executives from startup to succession.

 

Kathleen Bilderback and Bradley Crandall, along with partners Bob Guest and Ira Potter, were attorneys at another firm when they joined forces to found Affinity in 2007. The four had new ideas about better ways to help clients’ businesses grow. “We didn’t just want transactional, ‘one-and-done’ interactions with our clients,” explains Crandall. “We wanted to forge long-term relationships with them that would endure throughout the life cycle of their businesses.”

 

The new approach has proven to be extraordinarily successful. “The sooner we are brought in, the better,” adds Crandall. “As our clients get to know and trust us, and as we develop a granular understanding of every aspect of their business, we see better ways to advise them.”

 

Radical Accessibility

 

Affinity’s new paradigm extends to its alternative billing arrangements. In addition to traditional per-hour rates, flat fees, and retainers, Affinity clients may choose to pay a flexible monthly fee that gives them access to all of the firm’s attorneys. “After six months, we adjust the fee, depending on how much the client has used our services,” says Bilderback. “We have a strong team with diverse specialties, providing the same services of good in-house counsel but more affordably.” Those include corporate law services for businesses such as executive benefits, financial restructuring, and tax and estate planning, among others.

 

“Our clients aren’t just getting legal advice,” explains Bilderback. “They’re getting business advice, too.”

 

For Bilderback and Crandall, this work is more than just a job; it’s a chance to help people with some of the biggest decisions in their lives. “Mergers and acquisitions are among the most important and exciting experiences business owners will ever go through,” says Crandall, who specializes in mergers and acquisitions including analyzing and implementing sophisticated financing options that make growth possible.

 

In addition to constructing executive benefit plans that help companies obtain and retain key executives, Bilderback says she loves untangling the familial complexities of succession planning. “Handing off a business to the next generation can be filled with strong emotions,” she says.

 

“We started this firm from scratch and understand the complex legal and business issues our clients face,” Bilderback continues. “There’s nothing we love more than watching companies grow and thrive.”

 

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Combination with Sandberg, Phoenix & von Gontard P.C.

I am thrilled to announce Affinity Law Group, LLC has combined with Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard P.C., effective Monday February 19, 2024.

 

Why Sandberg Phoenix?  In my months of discussions with Sandberg Phoenix, it became crystal clear the combination provided immediate demonstrable benefits for our clients. With multiple offices in Missouri, Illinois, and Florida, and attorneys licensed in additional states, we will provide Affinity clients unparalleled support and bench strength in the practice areas in which Affinity historically excels such as corporate law (including mergers & acquisitions), employment law, and wealth transfer planning. As a result, Affinity clients will receive more proactive communication, improved responsiveness, and faster turnaround times on legal projects.  In addition, because Sanberg Phoenix is a full-service law firm, Affinity clients will gain access to additional practice areas including intellectual property, tax advice and controversy, as well as fiduciary/trust, employment, and commercial litigation.  Affinity clients will enjoy the opportunity to have one firm to address their needs across all practice areas and across the country.

 

In addition, the values of Sandberg Phoenix and Affinity align.  For example, “We Put People First”. The Affinity team will be joining Sandberg Phoenix – my colleague, Jason Kinser, my Executive Assistant, Angie Brandt, and my Trusts and Estates Paralegal, Sienna Johnson, will all join Sandberg Phoenix, ensuring that Affinity clients experience a smooth transition and consistent staffing on their matters.  Janet Arrow, our Accounts Manager, will remain with Affinity during the transition period before exploring opportunities with Sandberg Phoenix.

 

For me personally, the combination with Sandberg Phoenix means I will have a full administrative team to support me, allowing me to forego many administrative responsibilities and spend my professional time doing what I love – partnering with my clients to navigate life’s transitions; developing innovative approaches to the issues, opportunities, and challenges that impact clients daily; mentoring and coaching attorneys and staff; and delving into the emerging technologies which will allow us to provide more efficient legal services to our clients now and in the future.

 

What do you, an Affinity client, need to do in the Affinity/Sandberg Phoenix combination?  Nothing!  Because of the transaction structure, all Affinity clients and matters automatically transfer to Sandberg Phoenix effective February 19, 2024. If you have active matters with money deposited in Affinity’s trust account, the deposits will automatically move to Sandberg Phoenix’s trust account during the transition. Your billing rates will not change because of the combination.  I will be personally overseeing the transition and your matters going forward.  If you have questions or need additional information, please contact me on my mobile phone at 314-608-9165.

 

My new contact information effective February 19th is:

 

E-mail: kbilderback@sandbergphoenix.com
Direct Dial: 314-425-6933
Mailing Address: 120 South Central Avenue, Suite 1600, Clayton, Missouri 63105

 

We will maintain our Des Peres office during the transition. Previously scheduled meetings will take place at the Des Peres location unless you prefer to meet in Clayton.

 

Please note: if you have active matters, you will receive a final invoice from Affinity for work performed on or before February 18, 2024, payable to Affinity Law Group, LLC under our customary terms and conditions.  Legal work performed on or after February 19, 2024, will be billed by and owed to Sandberg Phoenix. To learn more about Sandberg Phoenix, visit www.sandbergphoenix.com.

 

One of Sandberg Phoenix’s values is “We Wow Our Clients Everyday”. With the best wishes of Affinity’s Emeritus Members Bob Guest and Ira Potter, Jason, Angie, Sienna, and I, along with the Sandberg Phoenix team, anticipate the opportunity to “Wow” you in the weeks, months, and years to come. 

 

Thank you for your business, friendship, and support over the years. I look forward to serving you at Sandberg Phoenix for many years to come.

 

Sincerely,

Kathleen Bilderback, JD, LLM