2020 Influential Businesswoman Awards

6 Acquisition International - 2020 Worldwide Finance Awards boutique firm operating in Troy, Michigan, Linchpin Legal PLLC specializes in providing legal advice to businesses and non- profit organizations on general contract drafting, negotiation, structuring complex financing and commercial real estate transactions involving multiple layers of financing, including tax credits, grants, mezzanine loans and traditional bank financing. If Linchpin is unable to offer expertise in a certain area, the firm acts as trusted advisor to clients, whether they need an intellectual property attorney, a financial planner or an insurance agent. Linchpin aims to help clients manage their legal affairs, so that they can focus their attention on running their business. Providing legal services to a wide variety of industries, including retail, technology, housing development and urban agriculture, Linchpin works with clients of all shapes and sizes. Being a woman- owned business means Linchpin attracts a lot of similarly female- led businesses as clients, and as a woman who is aware of the challenges faced by her demographic in law, Founder Lisa Berden particularly loves serving those clients. Lisa herself grew up in a rural area in poverty on government assistance and considers the attainment of a successful career in law her greatest achievement. After spending a brief but enjoyable time as a high school English and Government teacher, Lisa went to law school before elbow clerking for a Michigan Supreme Court Justice and going on to spend ten years at an AMLaw 200 firm. Having garnered a great deal of knowledge and experience, she established Linchpin Legal in April 2016. From the exposure to a wide range of legal topics, to learning to draft in plain English with minimal legal jargon, to thinking creatively when tackling complex business transactions, Lisa gained a great deal from her experience prior to Linchpin. Her career in education equipped her with a passion and skill for teaching that has proved vital in her mentoring projects with young women pursuing or practising law. Throughout the majority of her career, Lisa has been lucky enough to work with people who largely supported and listened to her. However, experiencing typical implicit biases against women in the workplace combined with those attributable to having an invisible disability in the form of chronic illness that is often not understood by The linchpin is an essential component of a wheel that, although vital, is small and unobtrusive. Founder, Lisa Berden, named her legal firm based in Troy, Michigan after this unassuming gizmo with the belief that legal firms should behave similarly; providing crucial advice and services without getting in the way of a deal. With the same quietly confident ambition, Lisa has overcome the implicit bias often faced by women, minorities, LGBTQIA and people living with disabilities to achieve a successful career in law by establishing her own practice. Best Business Transactions Attorney (Michigan): Lisa Berden A employers means she knows the resilience and determination needed to succeed as a woman in law. While she believes movements such as #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter have accelerated the learning curve on bias, there is still a great deal of workplace disparity in law because the bias is so implicit, and therefore difficult to address. It may be easier for women and minorities to enter the profession, but once they are there, their needs are often overlooked. Lisa believes that Covid-19 could be a great leveller in workplace disparity, as working from home has proven to be just as effective whilst also creating the flexibility that many women have struggled to attain for decades. However, fundamentally Lisa believes that entire systems need restructuring to really put women and minorities on a level playing field with men. Lisa is aiming to educate end-users of legal services that using boutique law firms does not mean settling for less. Indeed, many small firm attorneys have left large law firms due to limited advancement opportunities or fustration with firm operations, but they are equally skilled and passionate about doing quality work for their clients. As Lisa continues to encourage the presence of women in law, she advises women to “think about what you really want out of your career, not what you think you should be doing at whatever stage you're at. Then, network like crazy. Become an expert in your subject matter, but don't listen to anyone who tells you that you should not also be out developing relationships as soon as possible. Two things are vital to a successful attorney's practice: subject matter expertise and the ability to form meaningful relationships.” Contact: Lisa Berden Company: Linchpin Legal PLLC Web Address: www.linchpinlaw.com