Today's Inside The Build features Crystal Banse, founder of Banse Law. Crystal is a former judge advocate and assistant attorney general who started her first law firm in 2017 — a litigation practice she ran for five years in Wisconsin.
I asked her what led her to build her own firm.
She's actually done it twice. When she relocated to New York in 2022, she wound down her first practice and took a job at a big law firm. After about 18 months, she went back out on her own — but this time she built it completely differently.
"I don't do litigation anymore. I only do business advising and I do some background work for other litigators or come in to strategize, but I don't do the first chair litigation cases anymore."
She's also intentionally keeping her team small — an executive assistant and contract attorneys she brings on for specific projects.
I asked her why.
"I work part-time now, and I would like to continue to work part-time. I don't really want to have a big team. I have a small but effective team and a system in place."
We talked about what shapes how she leads.
"I've been very intentional about who the people are that I bring on. That's also one of the reasons why I don't want to build a big team. I want to be very intentional about the people that are involved in the practice and the growth."
Her clients are small to medium-sized business owners and founders, and they get Crystal directly.
"They want someone that they can call up and not be talking to their associate or their assistant. So we really try to go above and beyond and provide that kind of service."
We talked about how she uses technology to keep things efficient.
"I've always tried to utilize technology to make the firm more efficient. Using AI to help with a lot of the marketing or the admin or the things to make the firm standardized so we can produce things consistently and quickly."
Her number one tech tip: make sure all of your systems work with each other.
"A lot of people blend — they have a Windows computer and an Apple iPhone, and that technology just doesn't always sync right. So be consistent. My whole tech stack is all based on the fact that I use Apple products, and I only use technology that works well with that."
I asked what she'd tell a law firm owner who's building a team today.
"Step back and make sure you're assessing why you're building the team and what the function is for. When you start building a firm and it's successful, you hear like, oh, you got to scale, you got to get bigger. And that's fine if you want to do that. But at the end of the day, I realized I don't have an interest in running a huge business. Just make sure you know the reasoning behind it. I did not do that sort of behind-the-scenes work the first time, and I've done that now, and I can tell you that's really helped me shape my strategy and my business."
Her parting words:
"Trust your gut. Do stuff you like, do stuff that makes you feel good and confident. Every time I've gone into something that I don't really know, or I'm like, oh, should I have taken that case — it never works out. So trust your gut."
Are you a founder or business owner looking for trusted legal counsel from an attorney who understands how business decisions play out in practice? Connect with Crystal Banse, Esq. and check out Banse Law.