We had the good fortune of connecting with Barry Edwards, II and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Barry, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
The decision to start my own law firm was about control and autonomy. I wanted more control over my time and the quality of service I provide to my client. Also, I wanted to develop my own client base so I could choose the people I worked with and the types of legal matters I work on.

Please tell us more about your business. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today business-wise. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?

Edwards Law is a law firm located in Atlanta and I started it two years ago. Currently, the firm’s areas of practice include real estate law, estate planning, and business law. However, we specialize in real estate closings. I welcome everyone reading this to visit us at www.edwardslawatl.com to learn more about our areas of practice and how we can serve them.

I got to where I am today by having a constant desire to learn everything about the business and the practice of law. I think I am observant. When I figured out what clients and customers desired most in a real estate closing firm, I developed a blueprint for that and worked on implementing it with my own law firm. I feel like it was fairly easy for me to start my firm when the time came, but it was only because I was prepared. The difficult part was learning the ins and outs of the profession and the business, but I thankfully had great mentorship to help cut the learning curve. Where my mentor didn’t have the answers, I sought them elsewhere because I think it’s important to know all that you can about a subject, especially when it interests you and it relates to your profession. That’s how you become an expert and expertise is why people employ you as an attorney.

There are plenty of lessons that I have learned throughout my career. One of them is that all business isn’t good business. Some clients or customers are so troublesome that working on their issues can negatively impact your relationship with your other clients and hurt your business overall. For example, early in my career I worked with a real estate agent that would send incomplete contracts, take forever to respond to emails, and seemed very disorganized. As a result, I had to spend extra time on this particular agent’s files in order to get them to closing compared to many of the other agents I was working with. The problem was that I had to divert attention from the files of my good agents and the quality of my service to them diminished because I was so busy trying to clean up the messy files for this one particular agent. When I recognized the problem I sought a way to end that business relationship so I could re-focus my time and attention on my good clients and customers. Afterwards, the emphasis shifted to quality over quantity. I think that a good approach to life in general.

Another lesson I’ve learned is that your time is your most valuable resource. You should protect it and do your best to avoid wasting it on bad investments or on people that do not respect your time. You only get a certain amount of time in this life and none of us knows when our time will be up. Therefore, I think that you should try to spend your time doing the things you enjoy as much as possible when you’re outside of work. There’s much more to life other than work. I think that work is only a means to an end. That said, I also think you should be respectful of other people’s time, which is why I am constantly working to make our processes as efficient as possible. My goal is that little to no time is wasted in the execution of our tasks.

The other lesson I learned is to take care of the people that take care of you. Whether it’s co-workers, mentors, employers, employees, customers, or clients, I think it is a good policy to show appreciation for those who investment their time in you or do more than what is expected for you. Those people are rare and should be held in high regard. Many people are busy and, like I said earlier, our time is limited. For someone to sacrifice their time for you is no small thing.

All of these are core values at Edwards Law. We are always striving to deliver high quality service in an efficient manner because we value our customers and clients for putting their trust in us. That’s what I want the world to know about the Edwards Law brand and its story.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There’s so much to do in and around Atlanta. I would start by recommending that you visit during the late-spring after all of the pollen has cleared our or during the summer. Although the temperatures can get hot during those times, it gets darker later and I think the nightlife is better when its warmer here. Next, I would ask a few questions to determine how we should fill your itinerary. Atlanta has several neighborhoods and parts of town that have a distinct vibe and crowd so there’s something here for everyone. Once I have information about your criteria, I could build off that and put together a week long itinerary. However, if you only had 3 full days to visit Atlanta, I’d tell you to get here by Thursday afternoon so we could get dinner in Buckhead at Bones or Hal’s. They are both steakhouses that have excellent service, food, and drinks.

On Friday morning, we would start with the tourist spots in Downtown Atlanta. We could grab breakfast at Waffle House or Breakfast at Barney’s. Your choice. After breakfast, we head to the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coca-Cola (Try the Beverly), and Centennial Olympic Park. If you’re a soccer fan, I would also recommend going to an Atlanta United game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. If you’re into history, you could also visit Oakland Cemetery since you’re already downtown. Several notable Atlantans are buried there and it is filled with beautiful gardens and trees. For a late lunch, we make our way over to the Edgewood District. We can get a burger at Slutty Vegan and then have a drink at Georgia Beer Garden before walking a couple of blocks see the birth home of Martin Luther King, Jr. and to visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site. If you still have energy to hang out that evening, we could return to the Edgewood District to bar hop and get some pizza at Ammazza.

On Saturday, we start the day on the south end of the Eastside Beltline near the Krog Street Market. Depending on the time we arrive and your appetite, we could get an acai bowl from Playa Bowls, pizza from Nina & Rafi’s, burger’s from Fred’s Meat & Bread, or Tex-Mex from Superica. Once we’ve fueled up, we walk north along the Beltline where you can stop along the way at Historic Fourth Ward Park, New Realm Brewery, Ponce City Market before you get to Piedmont Park. If it is still early enough in the afternoon, you could check out the High Museum of Art located a few minutes west of Piedmont Park. In the evening, I’d take you over to West Midtown. All along Howell Mill, from where it intersects with Huff Road to where it changes into Marietta Street, you have a plethora of options for food, drinks, and the nightlife.

On Sunday morning, we could pick up breakfast because we taking a day trip to the North Georgia mountains for some hiking and outdoor adventure. You can drive to many trailheads in about two hours from Atlanta. A great resource for trail recommendations is Atlanta Trails (https://www.atlantatrails.com/). After hiking in the mountains, you’re going to be hungry and I think it would be a good idea to grab a snack on the way back into the city. That way you can save your appetite for some of Atlanta’s authentic international cuisine. Buford Highway is renowned for this reason and some of its better known restaurants are El Rey del Taco, Food Terminal, Lee’s Bakery, and Pho Dai Loi 2. The H-Mart Plaza in Doraville also has some good spots, like Miss Gogi and Shoya Izakaya. After that, you could head to your hotel before your flight home.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I definitely would not be where I am today without my parents. My mother and stepfather were extremely patient and supportive. I also know that the discipline that I cultivated in the practice of martial arts has been a significant factor in the success I’ve had. I also must give credit to my first employer and mentor in the legal field. He really took a chance on me and gave me opportunities to learn so much about the business of running a real estate closing firm.

Website: www.edwardslawatl.com

Instagram: @edwardslawatl

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/edwardslawatl

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EdwardsLawAtl1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EdwardsLawAtl

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