Atrium Legal Group

Anyone who has walked into a law office to seek legal guidance for a situation beyond their control is bound to experience a riot of emotions: fear, anxiety, confusion, elevated heart rates, and even the ever-present question, “Am I doing the right thing?” This is especially true when the issue involves handling a deceased family member’s estate, questions over contested guardianship, complex business succession, or how to plan for the day they are no longer around to care for their families.

Atrium Legal Group partners Jeffery Butler and Christopher Ash can’t promise that these matters and the accompanying emotions will be avoidable. However, they are confident in their ability to ease your concerns and find the best solution for you and your family.

“No one comes to us when things are going well,” Ash said. “Other than estate planning, they’re coming to us when there’s a problem — perhaps the biggest problem of their life. We have the experience to handle those situations but want to do so compassionately. My favorite compliment is when a client says, ‘This process wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, and you made everything understandable and straightforward.’ That means more to us than you can imagine.”

Butler agreed, adding, “There are many times when you and your family simply don’t know what you don’t know. We ask a lot of questions and share plenty of knowledge, and more times than not, the client says, ‘I didn’t even think about that,’ or ‘I didn’t think that was an issue.’ People don’t want to discuss their mortality, but it’s necessary. We treat you like a good friend and value your goals and wishes. And by the end, you leave feeling more knowledgeable and prepared than when you came in.”

The Entrance to Peace of Mind

Each attorney at Atrium Legal Group takes their duty to advocate for their clients seriously. In addition to estate planning and probate, they are experienced in business formation, guardianships, elder law, family law, and contract drafting and review (such as buy-sell agreements for new businesses and investors). However, their real skill is relationship-building and their ability to explain each situation to their clients in a way that helps calm the emotional response. Their growing “super team” of attorneys — which includes Butler, Ash, Jason G. Smith, J. Spencer Smyth, Rwan Hardesty, and Jonathan Lyle — genuinely care.

The idea of Atrium Legal Group was to gather a dream team of administrative assistants, paralegals, and solo attorneys in the area who wanted to be part of a team, represent the best in their field, and focus on being lawyers. Four years later, the Atrium Group has expanded to six attorneys, including the only board certified estate planning and probate attorney in Rockwall. They’ve also added family law to a growing list of practice areas.

Their sincerity is evident in every interaction, which allows them to craft a path to an amicable resolution.

“There are no egos,” said Angel Butler, director of operations. “You have an accomplished group of attorneys, and no one assumes to be the smartest in the room. They have something to learn from each other. It’s a team approach, and the client is the winner.”

Committed to You

Without a valid will, trust, or other estate planning documents, a probate court decides how your property will be distributed and, as crazy as it may seem, hires a stranger, called an attorney ad litem, to investigate your family and to determine what happens next. While the state’s “plan” (intestate succession) is to distribute your estate according to a legal code, this may not be what you want. Money or assets you assumed would go to one person might go to someone else, particularly if you have had previous marriages or children from a prior relationship. Your spouse could be saddled with a lengthy list of legal challenges instead of focusing on grieving and healing, and the entire process ends up becoming cumbersome, expensive, time-consuming, and confusing.

Atrium Legal Group’s experienced attorneys will help you avoid these complications and mishaps. Further, they’ll take the time to listen to you, get to know your family dynamics, and prepare customized documents that reflect your wishes and goals.

It’s the straightforward representation Butler and Ash dreamed of creating, though their path to law wasn’t exactly a straight line. After 10 years as a telecommunications manager, Butler decided to pursue a career he was passionate about. He graduated near the top of his class from the University of Idaho, College of Law, where he served as editor of the Law Journal for Critical Legal Studies and volunteered in the low-income taxpayer tax clinic, the small business Clinic, and served as the student body sergeant at arms.

Ash originally wanted to be a history professor but ultimately found his true calling. He graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 2001 with a graduate certificate in dispute resolution and having served as editor on the Texas Journal of Business Law. In his more than 20 years of practicing law, he has represented individuals and small businesses, including many local companies in Rockwall County and the greater DFW area, as well as large companies such as Sony, Bass Pro Shops, Smith & Wesson, DHL, Coach USA, Tracker Marine, Kroger, and Plains Capital Bank. With a background in dispute resolution and as a certified mediator, Ash brings a complete set of tools to each matter, saving his clients the stress and expense of a courtroom battle when possible. In a few short years, they’ve earned over 130 five-star reviews and won numerous awards, including being voted Best Of in Living Magazine’s Readers’ Choice awards for the past 10 years. Now, in their new location at 1131 West Yellow Jacket Lane in Rockwall, they look forward to continuing to serve the people of Rockwall County and surrounding counties.

Ash said, “When our work is done, we want you to be excited to recommend us to your friends and family.”