Business Law Group

Focus and the clients the firm chooses

Based in New Orleans, Louisiana, the firm is a boutique business law practice that works with owners of established companies in a growth phase. It takes clients selectively, so its roster stays smaller than a high-volume firm, and each client gets a larger share of the lawyers' attention.

Its background is in the hospitality, creative, and service industries. Owners in those fields handle leases, vendor agreements, staff, and permits, and a lawyer who already knows those matters can act on them quickly. The firm presents itself as outside counsel, a standing advisor a business keeps on call for legal questions as they arise.

Practice areas and the ground they cover

The firm's work centers on the legal side of running and growing a company. Its listed areas include business contracts, business formation, employment law, commercial leasing and real estate, and licensing and zoning. It also handles trademark and brand protection, mergers and acquisitions, buying and selling a business, and litigation and dispute resolution. Estate planning and business succession round out the list for owners who are planning past the current year.

Two areas fit the New Orleans setting closely. Louisiana liquor licensing runs through state and local permitting, and a business that serves alcohol needs the correct permit in hand before it opens its doors. The firm advises on that process, which matters to the hospitality clients at the center of its work.

Two of the everyday areas deserve a plain description. Employment work covers hiring, workplace policies, and disputes with a staff member. A commercial lease turns on the rent, the length of the term, and who carries the cost of repairs, and getting those terms right protects an owner for years.

How these matters usually move

Several of the firm's areas follow a set path, and knowing that path helps an owner picture where a lawyer's time goes. Business formation starts with choosing an entity, such as an LLC or a corporation. The next steps are a filing with the state and the internal agreements that set how the owners share control. A contract matter turns on the terms that bind a company to its partners, vendors, or staff, and on catching the clauses that create risk later.

A sale of a business moves through due diligence, a purchase agreement, and a closing where the parties sign and funds change hands. A trademark filing runs through the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the examination that follows. Business succession often rests on a buy-sell agreement that sets, in advance, how ownership passes to a partner or a family member. Each of these has a clear sequence, and a business lawyer's job is to keep that sequence on track.

How the team is built

Amanda Butler Schley founded the firm and works as a New Orleans business attorney. She has been recognized by Super Lawyers each year from 2022 to 2025, and by Leaders of Law. She has also been named to national and local legal directories, including New Orleans Magazine's annual lawyer feature. Four straight years on a peer listing is a marker a reader can check.

Megan Kelley is the firm's other named attorney. She earned her Juris Doctor from Louisiana State University at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center. Her litigation experience covers both the plaintiff and the defense sides of a dispute, which gives her a working sense of how an opposing party builds a case. With two named attorneys, Business Law Group keeps a small bench, and both are visible to a client from the start.

How the firm works with owners

Work is offered on a mostly flat-fee basis for defined projects, with hourly billing kept for complex or ongoing matters. A flat fee on a bounded task, such as forming an entity or drafting a single contract, lets an owner plan around the work with less guesswork. As a reviewer, I read that setup as a match for owners who value a predictable arrangement on routine legal tasks.

The outside-counsel model shapes the relationship as much as the billing does. A growing company gets legal advice on call while it keeps its own team focused on the business. It also means the same lawyers stay familiar with the company over time, so an owner starts each new matter with a team that already knows the business. For an owner who wants a lawyer to review a lease one month and a partnership agreement the next, that standing arrangement covers the day-to-day legal load.

What the record supports

In my opinion, the firm's clearest strength is how tightly it defines itself. It names the kind of owner it wants, the industries it knows, and the exact legal areas those owners meet. That specificity lets a prospective client judge the fit before a first call.

The site does not state a founding year. The named credentials, the LSU law training of its second attorney, and the spread of business matters it handles are all on the record. For an owner in New Orleans who needs outside counsel on a contract, a formation, or a sale, Business Law Group lays out what it does and who does the work.