Andrew Brodkin is a California attorney, mediator, and founder of Andrew Brodkin Law and Consulting, based in San Diego. With a background in construction law, he now helps founders and small businesses structure deals, draft agreements, and resolve disputes - primarily outside of court. His website says it plainly: "Structure better deals, avoid disputes, resolve them when they happen."
I asked Andrew what led him to start his own firm.
"I went through a lot of my career through autopilot," he told me. "I was just following instructions. At some point it finally clicked for me that a standard corporate path wasn't for me."
After a year at a construction law firm, he left without a clear plan. He took freelance legal work, connected with attorneys who gave him projects, and tried several different directions at once before landing on a lesson that reshaped his approach: focus on one thing and grow it out, rather than spreading across unrelated efforts at the base level.
What he focused on was the work he genuinely enjoys - helping people structure deals and resolve conflict before it reaches a courtroom.
"What I particularly enjoy is two people want to partner up, do business together," he said. "What are the key terms you want to get in writing that's going to help you sell it, but also anticipate future issues? Let's address that."
Today, Andrew's practice combines one-on-one legal and consulting services with an online community for founders and side-hustle entrepreneurs, where he helps members think through the fundamentals of structuring deals, writing proposals, and resolving conflict before it escalates. Details on the community are on his website. He also runs his practice entirely remotely, currently traveling between the U.S., Europe, and Japan - a model he built deliberately.
Andrew also mentors younger attorneys who want to go out on their own. He points them toward platforms like Law Clerk, which connect solo practitioners with experienced attorneys early on, because he learned firsthand that building competency quickly is non-negotiable in law. His advice on finding the right mentors reflects how he built his own path.
"I think people traditionally just look at the people above them as a mentor. You need to broaden out more and think about: this is where I want to be, not just the next level where I'm currently at. This is the person I want to be. This is where I want to go — and look for people like that."
It's the same instinct that shapes how he works with clients: get clear on what you're actually dealing with before anything else.
"Most problems don't come from bad intent. They come from assumptions that were never clearly discussed."
Are you a founder or small business owner looking to structure better deals and resolve disputes without going to court? Connect with Andrew Brodkin and check out \@andrew brodkin law.