A Year in Review

PortaLaw is celebrating our 1-year anniversary, and we are proud of what we have built.

Most people will remember clearly what they were doing in March 2020 when governments began to close down public life and business operations, disrupting virtually all parts of human life. Paula was happily employed, and Erin was coming back from maternity leave getting ready to balance a career with raising a very, very cute baby.

As colleagues, we got along swimmingly. After setting up our home offices and adapting to remote practice, we moved our office banter from the hallways and office kitchen to video chat. We were a mini-team discussing files, non-billable projects and our non-law lives.

Like a lot of professionals, the pandemic gave us space to slow down and actually reflect on our careers and what we hoped to achieve personally and professionally.

One day, Paula joked: wouldn’t it be great if we started our own firm?

Erin responded with: what if that wasn’t a joke?

We had different reasons for taking the leap together, but ultimately, we both knew that a disruption like COVID-19 opened a window to create something new. It was the push we both needed to venture into a space we had both thought about and we didn’t want to let the moment pass. So in a serendipitous moment, the idea for PortaLaw formed, and on August 4, 2020, we officially launched.

Over the past year of business ownership we have achieved many milestones:

1.       We built a fee model around predictable fixed rates and subscription services;

2.       We expanded our free legal resources in OpenPorta, and continue to regularly add new content;

3.       We support our community through free employment law webinars;

4.       We volunteer with Access Pro Bono;

5.       We launched formal in-house pro bono programs;

6.       We became a Benefit Company;

7.       We gained B Corp Pending status; and

8.       We began as two partners and are now a team of four.

This past year has been an incredible journey. In March 2020 we couldn’t have imagined that PortaLaw would take off so quickly. PortaLaw is the result of trusting our guts, taking the unsafe route and working hard, together. We are grateful to our colleagues, family and friends who support us, and to our clients who choose us. PortaLaw is a true work in progress: constantly evolving, learning and accepting new challenges. We’re not done yet though. As we roll into our second year of operation, we are so excited for what the future will bring.

Erin + Paula