Meet Lisa Shellenberger | Litigation Attorney / Managing Partner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lisa Shellenberger and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lisa, what do you attribute your success to?
Generosity to clients through both time and money. As a Managing Partner of a law firm, revenue is obviously very important. That’s how we pay payroll, of course. Most mid-size law firms like mine put an incredible amount of pressure on attorneys and paralegals to bill big numbers and on staff to collect every penny. However, the most important thing to me is not the dollars collected, but the client’s experience in relation to the fees being charged. Unlike many similar firms, we discount a LOT of our fees, even if the time was rightly billed. I want every client of SRSS who receives an invoice to see it and think, “That’s fair, and it was worth it.”

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My genuine care and appreciation for our employees, their lives, their work-life balance, and their happiness while on the job. I spend so much time as a Managing Partner ensuring that my employees are happy rather than just “managing” people. For example, a big part of the culture we’ve built is making the paralegals feel like an equally important member of the litigation team. At SRSS, all of our litigation paralegals attend every single court hearing alongside the attorney with which they’re working. The vast majority of the time, the paralegal’s time is not billed to the client, so the law firm eats that time and expense of the paralegal attending. However, inevitably, their attendance improves the performance of the attorney, and it also allows the paralegal to see the case from beginning to end – just like the attorney does. It also provides them the experience of being part of the trial that they’ve worked so hard on for months or years. Emotionally, it has a really rewarding impact on them.

In fact, just today, one of our attorneys had an emergency trial. Everyone in the office on the litigation team had been hearing about the case for weeks, so I let the whole office go and watch. Sure, we lost a lot of billable hours, but it was fun for everyone to watch and experience, and in the end, I think that matters most. If you run the ship right, the employees will stay, the clients will come, and the bills will get paid. While that concept is theoretical in nature, I’ve been running a law practice for 11 years now, and it hasn’t failed me yet.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
They need to see the “big’ mountains. A day trip to go hiking at the Brainard Lake Recreation Area is my go-to spot for close, big mountain hiking. The Lake Isabelle hike is my favorite hike there.

I also love the Dairy Block in Denver. It has a great vibe, local shops, restaurants, breweries, and wineries – all in one location in the heart of the city. Although, I may be biased, as my office is right across the street!

I’m big into CrossFit, so any visitors know they’re likely going to get dragged to a CrossFit class at CrossFit Sanitas in Boulder. My husband and I are also pretty intense outdoor adventurers. Outside of work, we spend our summers mountain biking, dirt biking, and camping. In the winter, we ski, snowboard, snowbike (timbersled), and winter camp in our van built out by 40 North Designs. So, if they’re really up for a challenge, I may throw them on a mountain bike or skis and see how they like a real dose of Colorado adventure!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My first mentor and now-law partner, Keith Smith. I joined Keith’s law firm as a brand new attorney, and he saw potential in me that I didn’t necessarily recognize in myself at the time. After just two years of practicing law, Keith offered me a partnership position. He trusted my instincts and ability to run a business, even though I really had no idea what I was doing. At the time, I was just making instinctual gut decisions – both in terms of case management and in running the practice. Turns out, Keith knew that I had a knack for making the RIGHT instinctual decisions. That, along with a high level of commitment and dedication to the trade, is the recipe for success in building a law practice.

Website: https://www.setterroche.com/lisa-r-shellenberger

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-shellenberger-b9999813/

Image Credits
Nick O’Sullivan