Pictured are Blanchard, Krasner & French's Abigail Stephenson, Attorney at Law, (left) and Stephanie Small, Reno firm administrator. Stephenson is leading the new northern Nevada office of the La Jolla-based law firm.
There is a new law firm in the Biggest Little City.
Blanchard, Krasner & French, a boutique law firm based out of La Jolla, Calif., recently expanded into the Reno market. Their new office is located at 5470 Kietzke Lane, Suite 200.
“We thought that the Reno market was under served in the legal area in terms of the law and quality of law that we practice,” Mark Krasner, a founding partner of Blanchard, Krasner & French, said. “… We are excited to see what is happening in Reno and we very much want to be a part of it. We want to help Reno continue to grow and broaden its economic base.”
Krasner said that the firm looked at a couple other markets before deciding to expand into northern Nevada.
“Reno is essentially becoming the next Silicon Valley,” he said. “With all the companies moving into Reno, from Tesla on down, the employees for those companies are the type of clients that we end up representing.”
The firm’s practice areas include business law, real estate, tax and estate planning, civil litigation, family law and more. Krasner explained that one thing that makes them stand apart from other law firms is their client satisfaction survey which they publish annually on their website. According to their 2015 survey, 99 percent of their clients reported that they would recommend the firm to other people.
“We really ask the gutsy questions but that really is what makes us better and what makes us unique,” Krasner said.
As a boutique firm, they work to be accessible and provide quality customer service to their clients.
“We are helping our clients at either very stressful or very exciting times in their life so we try to make ourselves available,” Abigail Stephenson, an attorney at Blanchard, Krasner & French, said.
Stephenson moved to northern Nevada to head the new Reno office. Her husband’s family is from Carson City, so the relocation to Reno has allowed them to move closer to their family.
“It was a wonderful opportunity for our family to come home so to speak,” Stephenson said.
They are already seeing growth within the Reno office. While Stephenson and Stephanie Small, the Reno firm administrator, are currently the only two employees at the office, they expect to add two or three more attorneys in the near future.
Blanchard, Krasner & French officially opened the new office last December. According to Stephenson, they were already getting work a couple months prior to opening their doors.
“It was a good indicator that the market was ripe for the type of lawyers that we are,” Stephenson said.
She said that the Reno community has been very welcoming to the firm.
“I fell like the legal community in Reno has been incredibility receptive to having a new law office here,” Stephenson said. “I can’t tell you how many other lawyers have taken me out to lunch to see how they can help us.”
Giving back to the community is an important part of the firm’s culture. They are already involved with the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern Nevada, Ronald McDonald House of Northern Nevada and the Nevada Museum of Art.
“We want to be involved here,” Stephenson said. “We want to be active members of the community and we want to give back.”
This year, the firm is celebrating its 25th anniversary. It has grown from the original three partners to about 15 attorneys.
“Our growth has been organic just to meet the needs of the business community and the individuals that we serve,” Stephenson said.
As for the future of the Reno office, besides adding several more attorneys to office, Stephenson hopes expand the firm’s practice areas, as well. Patent law is one area in particular she would like to add in the future.
For more information, visit http://www.bkflaw.com.
