I had the chance to meet with Amie Peele Leake, who founded Peele Law Group in February 2021. The firm just celebrated five years — a milestone Amie doesn't take lightly. She launched during the pandemic after a career spent in big law, and built something deliberately different: a boutique IP and business law firm that runs on relationships, not volume.
I asked Amie what led her to start the firm.
"It was right in the middle of the pandemic. It was a time of deep reflection for a lot of people. To be able to flex the way I wanted to and have the kind of practice I wanted to have — it just all added up to hang out a shingle and do the work."
Amie wanted to practice law on her own terms — specifically, the kind of white glove, relationship-based work she loved doing for small and mid-sized businesses. Her vision was a firm where people have plenty of room to practice law *and life*. As Amie put it:
"It doesn't matter if you want to basket weave or climb a mountain or rear your kids — it's whatever it is that makes life, life to you."
The team is now ten people, fully distributed with office space available when needed.
We talked about her leadership style.
"Authenticity, candor, vulnerability, and transparency. And more fundamentally than all of that, I truly care about my team and the clients we serve. I do my very best to involve them in what I call the messy middle — they know how and why I think about things the way that I do."
That collaborative approach extends to hiring too. When it comes to people, Amie's instinct is simple:
"All I see is positive and potential."
Which is exactly why she makes sure other people are part of the hiring conversation — different people catch different things.
She went on to talk about how they stay connected as a team.
They've invested heavily in project management systems, including bringing in consultants to customize their workflows. Recently they brought in a fractional chief learning officer to do a full 360 on processes and culture. Amie sent the report to the whole team, unedited — even the parts where they said she needed to get back to people faster.
"You can fix an internal process. You can add a note to an SOP and get people to follow it. I think it is much harder to create a culture where people feel like they belong if you haven't started there and created that from the beginning."
That transparency is deliberate, and it shows up in smaller ways too. They do periodic coffee talks — compensated time where the whole team jumps on and catches up on life. And once a year they gather in person, not for strategic planning, but for fellowship. One year they met in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Next month it's an oceanfront resort for the five-year celebration.
She also talked about something she wanted to make sure she said — the power of delegation.
Early on, a consultant told her to always operate at the top of her law license. She took that seriously. She had her operations director on board months before she even launched. She didn't build her own website or create her own brand.
"I know that I love novelty, and I could get really sucked into wanting to learn web development. But that's not where my skill set lies. I have to look at every hour I spend on something as an opportunity cost — and think of it as literally writing a check for that time."
That discipline, she said, has paid off hand over fist over five years.
Are you a business owner looking for concierge-level IP, branding, or business law support? Connect with Amie Peele Leake and check out Peele Law Group, PC.