Stuart Levin and John Atwood believe they have figured out how to build a firm in the suburbs and attract small-town and big-city clients. They treat their clients like family, not like commodities, and say the 5-year-old firm, Levin & Atwood, is well on the way to building a 12-lawyer business boutique in Katy. Levin, a former Judge Advocate General officer in the U.S. Air Force and in-house lawyer, and Atwood, who had an earlier career in the oil business, say they provide a level of service to clients that helps set them apart from the big firms in downtown Houston. They return phone calls promptly and don’t put a client’s pressing need on the back burner. They don’t charge for costs such as faxes and photocopying and send bills that are easy to understand. If a client wants to communicate via e-mail only, they do it. If a client prefers to receive documents via a fax machine, that’s how the client gets them.
“One way to build a law firm is to treat them [clients] like family,” Levin says.
