Starting A Business and Legal Support | Leslee Cohen, Founder of AllRise Legal Counsel From The Forum
Dear FoundHer...Real Founder Stories for Women Small Business Owners
Lindsay Pinchuk
4.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 26 February 2026
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Most Female Founders who are starting a business for the first time only think about legal support when something goes wrong. Leslee Cohen, founder of AllRise Legal Counsel, shares how the right legal guidance can make starting a business safer and less stressful. Drawing on decades of experience advising female founders through fundraising, growth, and exit, Leslee explains why so many first time business owners delay legal decisions and the risk that can create in their businesses.
Many legal legal decisions shape a startup from the very beginning, including business structure, equity, co-founders, and long-term protection. Leslee shares how a small shift in how founders talk about their business can open doors and why legal strategy works best when it supports momentum instead of slowing it down.
Leslee also reflects on what changed when she became a startup founder herself and rebuilt her firm around flexibility, trust, and accountability without sacrificing quality. If you’re starting a business for the first time and you want legal guidance that feels practical, human, and aligned with real life, this episode offers clarity and a smarter way to think about legal support.
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Female Founders Building Businesses For The First Time in the Dear FoundHer Forum
01:30 From Diplomacy to Corporate Law and Startup Legal Work
05:45 How One Sentence Changed Her Startup Legal Business
08:50 Building a Flexible Legal Firm for Female Founders
12:08 Networking Strategies That Drive Business Referrals
16:30 Legal Decisions Every New Business Owner Must Make Early
23:26 Redefining Growth and Success as a Legal Founder
29:44 Practical Advice for Women Starting A Business For The First Time
Connect with Leslee Cohen:
Follow AllRise Legal on Instagram
Subscribe to The FoundHer Files
Follow Dear FoundHer on Instagram
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Deer Found Her from the forum where we're shining a spotlight on the women building |
| 0:06.9 | incredible businesses inside the Deer Found Her forum community because every woman business owner |
| 0:13.2 | deserves the chance to tell her story to share the lessons, the pivots, and the wins that |
| 0:17.9 | come from building something of her own. These are the stories from our community, real women, real businesses, real inspiration. |
| 0:26.5 | I'm your host, Lindsay Pinchuk, and I am excited to introduce you to the founders |
| 0:30.0 | who remind us all what's possible when women come together. |
| 0:35.4 | Welcome back to another episode of Dear Found Her. |
| 0:38.3 | I'm very excited to have a fellow Wolverine on today's episode. |
| 0:43.4 | Yes, go blue. |
| 0:44.9 | Big game this weekend. |
| 0:46.2 | We were recording this before the Ohio State game, so it won't air until after. |
| 0:50.5 | So let's manifest something good, Leslie. |
| 0:53.5 | You got it. |
| 0:53.9 | But Leslie Cohen, who is the founder and managing partner of all rise legal counsel, is here |
| 0:59.6 | today. And I'm really excited to share her story. We have not had a female founded firm on the |
| 1:06.8 | show. So you are first. And also, I just think there are some things from a broad |
| 1:12.8 | perspective that are really important to point out to female founders and startups. And Leslie's |
| 1:19.1 | going to bring that to the table. But before we get into that, I want Leslie to share her story |
| 1:23.3 | with us. Leslie, welcome. We're so happy to have you here. Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. |
| 1:28.3 | So tell us your story. So my story, I'll give the broad brushes that will be interesting to your |
| 1:35.5 | audience, hopefully. So let's see, I grew up in Highland Park. I went to Michigan undergrad. |
| 1:41.9 | I went to law school at NYU. I went to law school to be a diplomat. |
... |
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