About Kristen Herwitz

Hello, I’m Kristen Herwitz. I use the law to support and elevate BIPOC and/or LGBTQIA+ folks of all genders, women, and other systemically oppressed groups, in protecting themselves and their businesses. I work with my clients to ensure that they thrive as entrepreneurs and values-driven business owners as their impact grows.

Education and Early Career

Once upon a time, I attended UCLA as an applied mathematics honors student before shifting to a double major in English and History, and an almost-minor in Spanish. I worked as a small business banking specialist and as an emerging companies paralegal before attending University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. During law school, I focused on business and intellectual property law and immersed myself in just about every practical skills course offered, from negotiations and mediation to commercial contract writing, while providing college preparation and admissions consulting services to ESL students.

Carving My Own Career Path

After asking hard questions about the lack of women in leadership and partnership positions at the prestigious law firm I intended to return to after law school — and hearing from the firm’s decision-makers that “most women seem to want to give up their careers once they have kids” — I deliberately stepped off the traditional “Big Law” legal career path and set about creating my own alternative.

I joined BlogHer, a women-founded, women-led company dedicated to finding and amplifying the voices of women online, bringing them together through community events and conferences, and getting them paid for their work as bloggers, influencers, and beyond. Meanwhile, I continued developing and publishing recipes on a food blog I had launched to keep my creative side alive during law school.

I became BlogHer’s in-house general counsel. In that role, I created legal systems, wrote and negotiated contracts, protected and enforced trademarks and copyrights, and developed corporate marketing policies and risk management strategies for digital marketing and events. I helped usher the company through rounds of venture capital funding and an acquisition a decade before #MeToo, when successful fundraising for women-led businesses was, for the most part, not a thing.

Serving Small Businesses

Throughout the early part of my career, I noticed an alarming trend: small businesses were not able to access attorneys with an understanding of how small businesses work, what legal structures they need to have in place, and how to help them prioritize their legal “To-Do Lists” based on their current bandwidth and budget.

When my first son was born, I decided to embrace that enormously transitional moment in my life and start my own law practice with a focus on providing accessible legal counsel to small businesses.

“Kristen is so accessible personally and really took the time to understand what I was trying to do and what I should think about from the legal angle. I am so glad to have Kristen as part of my team.” Barbara Pierce, Founder, Women With Capital

Creating a Better Way to do Legal

After five years supporting a dozen values-led clients — with businesses in event production, impact PR, marketing, financial education, writing, tech, clean beauty, wellness, coaching, branding, design, website building, content creation, telecom, meal-planning, freelancing, and more — and adding one more little boy to our family, I decided to revamp my business model so the value I offer aligns with my core values of kindness, accessibility (inclusion + reliability + service), and elevation of others.

I’ve put together what I believe is a significantly improved alternative to the legal industry standard of requiring hefty retainers, charging in 6-minute increments, and delivering massive, unpredictable bills at month’s end.

When you work with me you get transparency, accessibility, and a partner who has a practical understanding of small businesses that’s simply not available in traditional law firms.

• Flat-rate legal tasks: if you prefer to have a few specific legal tasks taken off your plate, you can choose a limited scope Starter Package. Learn more about Starter Packages here.

• DIY contract templates: if you aren’t ready for 1:1 services just yet, you can buy a Customizable Contract Template from the shop.

• DIY Legally Audit Your Business masterclass: if you’re on a shoestring budget and want to know what you should be thinking about in your business without wading through the entire internet, you can buy a self-paced, 5-Part Legal Masterclass to walk you through what you should be thinking about in launching or running your business.

Whatever you choose, you’ll get accessible legal advice to support your goals at a predictable rate, so you can focus your energy on what you enjoy most and do best.

Kristen is licensed to practice law by the State Bar of California (license #272896).

Herwitz Law was launched and has operated within the occupied territories of the Ohlone peoples and the Coastal Miwok (who, together with the Southern Pomo, are recognized today as the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria). We honor these Indigenous Peoples and appreciate the inspiration, nourishment, and sanctuary we receive from their ancestral land, now known as San Francisco and Mill Valley.

We believe restorative justice requires more than a land acknowledgement, which is why we buy from Indigenous-owned brands intentionally and donate to organizations run by and benefiting Indigenous Peoples.