Jacqueline Simonovich Speaks on "Barrister to Founder" Panel at BASF's Barristers Annual Leadership and Skills Summit
Benedicto & Simonovich LLP founding partner Jacqueline Simonovich joined a panel of attorneys who have built their own firms for Barrister to Founder: Opening Your Own Firm and the Technology Behind It, presented today as part of the Bar Association of San Francisco's (BASF) Barristers Annual Leadership and Skills Summit. The virtual CLE program, approved for specialty credit in Technology in the Practice of Law, brought together founders at different stages of building solo and small-firm practices to discuss what it actually takes to make the leap.
She was joined on the panel by Amber Bissell of The Law Offices of Amber Lee Bissell and James Owens of Owens Defense, with Evan Ettinghoff of Minnis & Smallets moderating the discussion.
The panel covered the full arc of starting and running an independent practice: why and when each panelist decided to leave a larger firm, and how today's technology landscape has changed the calculus of what's possible to build alone or with a small team. The conversation moved category by category through the technology stack founders now rely on — client intake and payment processing, practice management and CRM systems, marketing and client communication tools, AI applications in legal work, and billing, accounting, and time tracking — along with how to evaluate each against the needs of a growing practice. Panelists also discussed how they use technology to build a client base and generate referrals, and what they would do differently with the benefit of hindsight.
It's a conversation Jackie knows firsthand. She co-founded Benedicto & Simonovich LLP with Kevin Benedicto earlier this year, and the questions the panel tackled — when to leave, what to build first, and which technology actually earns its keep — are the same ones she and Kevin worked through in launching BenSim Law's San Francisco and Los Angeles offices. It was also a fitting audience: Jackie currently serves as President of the Barristers Board, with Kevin serving as President-Elect.
Benedicto & Simonovich LLP (BenSim Law) is a boutique litigation firm based in San Francisco and Los Angeles, dedicated to delivering strategic, high-quality representation in complex disputes, internal and external investigations, and matters involving emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.