Advice you can use.
A small firm of partners who pick up the phone. Estate planning, business formation, and private-client work, run out of a third-floor walk-up on Broad Street.
What we do, and don't.
Four practice areas, done deeply. We refer out anything that isn't one of these — which is most things.
Estate planning
Wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and the conversations that have to happen before the paperwork. We'll meet at our office or yours.
Business formation
LLC, S-corp, partnership — structured around what you actually plan to do, not what sounds impressive at a dinner party.
Contracts + review
We read the thing, we tell you what it says, we tell you what to change. In English. Flat fee for most review work.
Private client
Ongoing counsel for a small number of families and business owners who want one firm that knows everything.
How we work.
Three commitments we keep. If any ever slip, we'll say so first and fix it.
- 01
Flat fees where possible
Hourly billing is a bad incentive. Where the scope is knowable, we quote it — and we honour the quote.
- 02
One partner per matter
You'll know exactly who handles your work. No associates you've never met running your file.
- 03
Plain English
We write our letters and emails like we'd want to read them. If something sounds like Latin, it's because it actually is — and we explain it.
Who you'll work with.
Three partners. No juniors to hand you off to.
Elena Marsh
Fifteen years in estate law, the last eight on the Carolina coast. Before that, trusts + estates at a mid-size firm in Philadelphia.
Jonas Reinhart
Corporate counsel for a regional manufacturer, then seven years in private practice. Handles the commercial work at Counsel.
Margaret Flood
Litigated for a decade in state and federal court before stepping back to focus on families and their long-term counsel.
Selected matters.
Representative work, anonymized. If you've got a question about whether we've done something like yours — we probably have.
- 2024Estate plan
Multi-generation wealth transfer for a family operating a Charleston hospitality business
Outcome · Closed in six weeks. Saved an estimated $412k in estate tax exposure.
- 2024Business formation
Restructured a two-founder consultancy from partnership to S-corp
Outcome · Protected both founders' personal assets. Cleaner tax treatment for retained earnings.
- 2023Contract review
Reviewed a sixty-page vendor agreement for a regional retailer
Outcome · Found fourteen material changes. Client renegotiated six of them. Saved ~$90k over the life of the contract.
Before you call.
42 Broad Street, Suite 300 · Charleston, SC
We do a twenty-minute intake call at no cost. It's enough to tell us whether we're the right fit. If we're not, we'll refer you to someone who is.