The Counsel Behind the Studio
MEET ASHLEE
Legal guidance is personal.
Before someone trusts an attorney with their family documents, business questions, school concerns, contracts, or major life decisions, they often want to know one simple thing:
Who am I dealing with?
Fair question.
I’m Ashlee Lewis - a New York attorney, born and raised in New York City, with deep family roots in Gullah Geechee culture from the South Carolina Lowcountry.
I bring more than two decades of legal industry experience to my work, including corporate, nonprofit, family, education, public benefits, contract, business, intellectual property, and estate-related matters.
But before the credentials, roles, and practice areas, there has always been one through-line: I believe people deserve to understand the legal decisions that affect their lives. Not vaguely. Not eventually. Clearly.
A LITTLE ABOUT MY PATH
I knew I wanted to be a lawyer when I was seven. But when I landed my first internship at the Manhattan DA's office at sixteen - and walked away from that mock trial as defense counsel, with a win - I was committed.
That was 2002. Twenty-four years later, here we are.
My path to the bar included meaningful exposure across multiple environments - a law school externship with Pernod Ricard, volunteer legal work with The Family Center in Brooklyn, and corporate legal experience connected to Ernst & Young's General Counsel's office - all of which shaped how I think about legal problems before I ever hung a shingle.
Since my admission to the New York bar in 2015 through the Appellate Division, First Department, I have continued working across corporate, nonprofit, family, education, public benefits, contract, business, intellectual property, and estate-related matters.
That range matters because real life rarely fits neatly into one legal box. Families, businesses, caregiving responsibilities, school issues, and planning needs often overlap. My background allows me to see those connections and help clients think through their next steps with more context.
BEYOND THE RÉSUMÉ
I am an elder millennial who once believed in the blueprint - school, career, stability, follow the steps, do the things - and, like many in my generation, had to reroute when I realized the blueprint was not written equally for everyone.
That experience shaped me.
It made me more committed to self-sustainability, kindness, empathy, excellence, and practical preparation.
It also taught me not to take everything too seriously, because life is always going to life.
Outside of my legal work, I love spending time with family, exploring holistic health, being a mental health advocate, traveling, dancing, reading, and finding small moments of stillness.
Stillness matters because it is where perspective returns.
It is where I remember:
You may be hard pressed on every side, but not crushed.
Perplexed, but not in despair.
Struck down, but not destroyed.
WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE STUDIO?
You can read more about the mission, services, and legacy-centered approach behind Lewis Legacy Law Studio here: