What We Designed

Shartsis Friese was founded in 1975.  Our goal was to offer clients an alternative to large national law firms.  We designed our firm to provide premium quality legal work, but with more personal service, lower billing rates, and more efficient staffing than larger firms.  Over the past 40 years we have carefully assembled top legal talent to create elite practice groups best suited to serving dynamic companies and sophisticated individuals.  Our extremely low turnover creates continuity and institutional knowledge for our clients’ benefit.  We have achieved excellent results for our clients in major local, national, and international litigation; we provide world-renowned representation of investment managers and hedge funds; we handle real estate transactions around the United States for many of the most dynamic companies in the country; we represent major business figures in managing their personal wealth and estates; we counsel a wide variety of companies and individuals in business, securities, and intellectual property transactions; and we advise clients on tax issues and tax disputes.  While we have succeeded in our original goal, we continue to strive to exceed our clients’ expectations.

Client Service Is Everything

We are driven to find solutions to business and litigation issues.  We always look for the most effective and efficient way to achieve the optimal outcome for our clients.  In business, IP, and real estate transactions, we find a way to get the deal done in a timely manner and keep the legal problems from driving the transaction.  In counseling start-up and mature businesses, we help clients address legal and regulatory issues in ways that advance their business plans rather than impeding them.  In litigation, we first focus on the client’s ultimate objective, and then develop a strategy to get there.  In estate planning, we focus on preserving family wealth consistent with other personal objectives of our clients.  We are always sensitive to the high cost of quality legal services and organize our representation to minimize that cost.

You Must Have Great Lawyers

We have over 60 lawyers working in nine major practice groups.  Each practice group has a full complement of lawyers capable of handling significant transactions or litigation.  Our lawyers have outstanding academic records from top law schools, and many are leaders in their respective fields.  Many of our lawyers have moved to our firm from large and prominent national firms because our approach to personal service, with our low-leverage low-turnover design, is better suited to serve clients’ needs − and our lower rates are always more attractive to our clients.