This webinar is geared towards business owners starting a small service based businesses with 20 employees or less. Our Presenter Laurie M. Lee, Business Attorney and Owner of The Legal Department for Service Professionals, P.A. Laurie opened her own law firm in 2015 after recognizing the community’s need for experienced and quality legal counsel for small businesses. Her goal was to share knowledge and create long-term relationships with small business owners as their trusted advisor. Since then, Laurie and her team at the Legal Department have served over 300 small businesses in Florida. Laurie started out her career as a history teacher before attending law school and gaining her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Florida in 2003. After working in other firms for many years as a successful attorney, she realized that she had a soft spot in her heart for the real backbone of our economy: small businesses. Laurie has achieved the AV Preeminent Peer Rated by Martindale-Hubbell ® (highest possible rating) and is rated on AVVO® as Superb: 10 out of 10. She was honored as the 2021 Women Business Owner of the Year from the JAX Chamber Professional Women’s Council, the 2019 SBA North Florida Woman Owned Business of the Year, and the 2018 Regional Volunteer of the Year Award from America’s Small Business Development Center. Laurie is involved in her professional community as the Chairman of the Fourth Judicial Circuit Attorney Grievance Review Committee, a member of the Jacksonville Bar Association, past Chairman of the Jacksonville Bar Corporate & Business Law Committee, past vice-Chairman of the Jacksonville Bar Transactional Section and a member of the Florida Business Law Section. In the business community, Laurie serves on the board of the North Florida Women Business Owners organization and serves as the Chairman of the Advisory Council for the Small Business Development Center at UNF. Laurie gives back to the business community by offering legal workshops and webinars. She has conducted classes for Score, the SBDC, the City of Jacksonville JSEB Program, and most recently, she created a new course offering for the Jacksonville Women’s Business Center called “Legal Matters”.