Sterling LLP · Counselors at law · Hartwell

Counsel for the decisions that matter.

Sterling is a seven-lawyer firm for business, employment, and estates. We measure every engagement by one standard: you leave each meeting knowing exactly what happens next, and what it costs.

Schedule a consultation Forty-five minutes with a partner. The fee is stated on the phone, not discovered later.
Limestone facade of the Sterling LLP offices in late afternoon light
210 Court Square · Hartwell
Est. 1998 Business · Employment · Estates (555) 555-0148
Practice areas

What we do, in plain English.

  1. 01

    Business & Corporate

    Formation, contracts, partnerships, and the disagreements that test them. We keep companies out of trouble more often than we get them out of it, and we prefer it that way.

  2. 02

    Employment

    Handbooks, hiring, separations, and the hard conversations in between. We advise companies and executives both, never two sides of the same table.

  3. 03

    Estates & Trusts

    Wills, trusts, and plans that hold when they are finally needed. Most estates we plan settle around a kitchen table rather than in a courtroom, which is the point.

  4. 04

    Real Estate

    Purchases, sales, leases, and the closing that has to happen on the thirtieth. We read every page so you can sign with your shoulders down.

  5. 05

    Disputes

    Litigation when it is necessary, settlement when it is wise. We will tell you which one you are in, early and in writing.

  6. 06

    Nonprofits

    Formation, governance, and tax-exempt status for organizations doing real work. Board questions get answered in hours, not billing cycles.

Eleanor Sterling opened the firm in 1998, in two rooms above the old savings bank on Court Square, with one associate and one rule: no client leaves a meeting unsure of what happens next.

Twenty-eight years later there are seven of us, and the rule still runs the place. We stayed small on purpose, in one city we know well, doing work we can stand behind and billing it the way we would want to be billed ourselves.

A fountain pen resting on thick paper beneath a brass desk lamp

Plain English

If we cannot explain the risk in one sentence, we have not finished thinking about it. Every letter that leaves this office passes that test.

Same-day answers

Calls and emails are returned by the end of the business day. Often with the answer, always with a plan for getting it.

Right-sized counsel

Small matters deserve small bills. Every engagement is staffed with exactly the lawyers it needs, which is usually one.

Attorneys

Two partners you will actually talk to.

Eleanor Sterling, founding partner, in the firm library

Eleanor Sterling

Founding partner · Business & Estates

Admitted to the state bar, 1996 · U.S. District Court
J.D., Whitford College of Law

Still drafts the first paragraph of every will longhand, with the pen her father used to sign his first lease.

Marcus Hale, partner, at his desk

Marcus Hale

Partner · Employment & Disputes

Admitted to the state bar, 2008 · U.S. District Court
J.D., Aldren University School of Law

Teaches the Tuesday-night employment law class at Hartwell Community College. His students get plain English too.

Working with us

How an engagement works.

A candid first meeting

Forty-five minutes, in person or by phone. You leave knowing whether you have a legal problem, whether we are the right firm for it, and what it is likely to cost.

A written scope and fee

One page, signed before we begin. Flat fee where the work allows it, a capped estimate where it does not, revised in writing if the matter changes shape.

The work, with updates you never chase

A short note at every milestone and a call when something needs your decision. You will not learn news about your own matter from the other side first.

A note on fees: most wills, formations, leases, and closings here are flat-fee, quoted before we start. Litigation cannot honestly be quoted that way, so we estimate in ranges and re-forecast at every milestone.

Best of Hartwell County · 2024 Chamber Small-Firm Counsel of the Year · 2023 Legal Aid Pro Bono Honor Roll · Five years running
Consultations

Bring us the decision you are weighing.

Forty-five minutes with a partner, in person or by phone. Come with documents or just questions; leave with next steps and a straight answer about cost.

Call (555) 555-0148 or write to counsel@sterling.example

Two blocks from the courthouse, on the square.

Office

210 Court Square, Suite 400
Hartwell
Open in Maps

Parking is behind the building; the entrance is on Mill Lane.

Hours
  • Mon — Thu8:30 – 5:30
  • Friday8:30 – 4:00
  • Sat — SunClosed

Evenings by appointment, arranged in advance.

Reach us

Call (555) 555-0148
or write to counsel@sterling.example

Email is read by an attorney, not a form, the same business day.

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