Cheers to New Beginnings!: Our Origin Story
One of the serious phrases you hear frequently our office is “rocket ships don’t have rear view mirrors.” (Among other more ridiculous sayings…) That said, experience matters in the practice of law, and we certainly would be glad to share a little bit of our story and how Atlas Law came to be.
The roots of Atlas Law go back further than even I know, but I’ll start this story with the beginning of Joe Orenstein’s career, in 2012. I’ve only heard him tell it about a million times, so I know by heart that Joe grew up in Kernersville, graduated from East Forsyth High School, went to undergrad at Lynchburg College (in VA) and law school at Mercer University (in GA). After graduating school, he wanted to come back to Kernersville to practice, and he was lucky enough to find the Coltrane & Grubbs law firm to start work. After practicing with the firm for five years, Joe became a managing partner with the firm, and it changed its name to Coltrane Grubbs Orenstein, PLLC.
Joe’s practice during those formative years was eclectic by nature, and he gained valuable experience across a variety of different practice areas. He did work in bankruptcy, civil litigation, family law, probate and estate administration, estate planning, traffic law, landlord-tenant law, business transactions, and of course, residential and commercial real estate. In 2016, Joe became a licensed real estate agent, and thereafter, his practice bloomed in the area of real estate. Over the last five years, Joe has closed thousands of transactions (yes, thousands!) and benefited from the experience that comes with it. His real estate practice was always supplemented by estate planning, probate, and business formation/transaction work. That kind of variety in discipline has helped keep things lively in his practice!
About three years ago, Joe realized that his real estate practice was hitting the limit of what it could do, because there were some missing systems and team members that were necessary for growth. That is where I come in (yay!)—Joe hired me (Kelly White) as the CGO Practice Manager in early 2020, and at the same time, brought on Rachel Ward as a real estate paralegal. My primary responsibility was to build better people & technology systems around our firm, so that we could evolve in a real estate world that was growing and changing around us.
Of course, in March of 2020, everyone’s world changed drastically when COVID hit. Despite the circumstances, CGO stayed busy in the real estate world, partially due to historically low interest rates and low housing supply, but also (we think) because of our reputation in the Triad area for exceptional service and a comprehensive client-focused approach.
As I tested and built out the CGO systems to grow, our firm grew in response! In the Spring, we added Shelby Fontana as a real estate paralegal, and then Landis Hinnant and Lauren Reinbold joined our team in the Fall as a closing specialist and executive admin, respectively. Joe’s younger sister, Alex Orenstein, also joined up with us as a full-time title specialist in the Spring of 2020. She’s a professional ballerina by trade, and is able to work remotely for us from Lexington, Kentucky, while teaching and dancing with the ballet. We also brought Sharra Jones into the fold in 2021, as a talented assistant who has helped us across the board, from title to closing.
Our team grew together as a cohesive machine from 2020 through present. While we all have varied backgrounds, none of us came in as seasoned, real estate legal staff, so the last two years have grown us closer as a team. More often than not, our clients walk in the door to hear us laughing, joking, and working with each other (sometimes loudly - sorry, Joe.) Not a day goes by where I don’t thank my stars for the group of people we have working together, all of which are joining us as we start Atlas Law. Over the two-year stretch, we closed more than 1500 transactions as a group, and we are proud of the hard work and dedication put in at CGO during our time there. We certainly have accomplished a lot together!
Directionally, we realized that the firm itself was drifting away from the core of people handling the residential real estate practice at CGO. Some differing approaches to business culture and management style made it the healthy choice for Joe to step out on his own and start Atlas. We all have a serious and unqualified respect and affection for our time spent with CGO, and for Jason Grubbs and Joe Coltrane. For the nine years Joe practiced with the firm, he got the autonomy he needed to grow with the resources he needed to learn how to practice. For the staff, we had a place to learn our craft and really nurture a customer-centered approach that will be the backbone of Atlas Law. For that experience, we are all incredibly grateful.
Naturally, we are excited about this new chapter! Certainly, you’ll learn more about our vision and goals over the coming weeks as we lead up to opening the doors in the new year. Thereafter, we’ll pepper in posts about our firm along with informational/educational content that will help you in whatever walk you come from, whether it be an agent, a client, a lender, a spectator, or an internet troll. Thanks for listening, and as always, thanks for letting us serve you!
- Kelly White
