What Drives Us
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Innovation + Creativity: No cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all legal strategy here
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Generosity: We always provide high touch client support + customer service
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Integrity:We make every decision and action as if it were going to be printed on the front page of the newspaper. We don’t play games or bend the truth (and won’t work with clients who ask us to do this).
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Practical: We provide pragmatic, proactive, strategic, and tactical advice to our clients
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Respect: We advocate for and practice respect of all, regardless of differences
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Relationship: We value long-term, connected relationships with clients, referral sources, suppliers, service providers, partners, and employees
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Autonomy + Flexibility: Our team members are people first
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: We are committed to social justice, including LGBTQ rights, women’s rights, and civil rights. We believe Black Lives Matter. We believe diversity makes us all stronger and we celebrate the visible and invisible qualities that make each person unique. We believe all clients, customers, employees, contractors, collaborators, vendors, and others who encounter our firm should feel valued and respected, whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education, ability, or other identities.
Meet Our Founder
Autumn Witt Boyd graduated in the top 10% of her class from Vanderbilt University Law School (a Top 20 law school) before ultimately landing as a senior associate at the premier copyright litigation law firm for photographers and stock photography agencies.
After spending the first 10 years of her career battling over copyrights and business issues in courtrooms across the U.S., Autumn left BigLaw behind to start the AWB Firm in 2015 so she could spend her days helping entrepreneurs build, protect, and scale their businesses the right way, instead of fighting with other lawyers.
When it comes to intellectual property and business strategies, Autumn is known as a thought leader in the online business community, working with influencers like Amy Porterfield, Chalene Johnson, Corinne Crabtree, and many more, to help them avoid costly legal mistakes while scaling their businesses. She’s also passionate about making sure solopreneurs and side hustlers who may just be getting started have access to the type of protection they need to build their business on a solid legal foundation with customizable contract templates.
Autumn is mom to twin boys, Sam and Tyson, and daughter Vivian. Her husband David is also an entrepreneur — he runs a construction estimating company, Quantify, LLC, and invests in real estate development projects. She definitely knows a thing or two about juggling!
Autumn loves to socialize (over coffee, or better yet, a glass of champagne!), read a good novel, monogram and put glitter on anything that sits still long enough, travel to new places, finish half marathons, and spend time outdoors.
Autumn is licensed to practice in Tennessee.
Meet Our Team
Michelle Coakley
Michelle is our resident labor and employment whiz, helping our clients intelligently and (more importantly)
legally grow their teams.
Michelle graduated from Michigan State University with honors, and Wayne State University Law School in Detroit cum laude. After working her way to shareholder with a large metro-Detroit firm, in 2011, she relocated to Chattanooga, Tennessee with her children and husband when he accepted a job opportunity.
When she’s not working, Michelle loves running, practicing yoga, reading and talking about great books, cheering on juvenile athletes, and traveling to interesting corners of the world.
Michelle is licensed to practice in both Michigan and Tennessee.
Katie Nelson
Katie brings over six years experience managing nonprofit organizations and guiding local creatives and community organizations along their entrepreneurial journeys. As our Legal Team Leader and Contract and Employment Attorney, Katie’s unique blend of legal knowledge and business experience provides a thorough perspective for setting your business’s legal foundation.
Katie graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville with honors and the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.
When she’s not in the office, Katie is spending time with her husband and son, volunteering with the Junior League of Chattanooga or relaxing with her nose stuck deep in the latest Reese's Book Club pick.
Katie is licensed to practice in Tennessee.
Michelle Briggs
Michelle is one of our intellectual property attorneys and thrives helping online business owners understand their most valuable creative assets and how to protect them.
Michelle graduated from Southern Methodist University with a B.A. in Corporate Communications and Public Affairs and later graduated from Oklahoma City University School of Law with honors.
After working for a boutique intellectual property firm in Oklahoma City for seven years, Michelle dipped her toe into business ownership, founding and operating two online businesses. Michelle brings this unique entrepreneurial perspective and empathetic connection to the counsel of our clients.
In her free time, Michelle enjoys spending time outside with her three young boys and husband, traveling and trying new food, practicing yoga or enjoying a game of Mahjong with a hot coffee and friends!
Michelle is licensed to practice in Oklahoma.
Diane Charboneau
Our Paralegal
Diane (affectionately dubbed our ‘follow-up ninja’) assists clients throughout the corporate, trademark, and copyright registration process to ensure they run smoothly and stay on track.
Diane graduated cum laude from East Carolina University in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and a minor in International Business. She is a CORE Registered Paralegal through the National Federation of Paralegal Associations and a member of the Paralegal Division of the North Carolina Bar Association.
Diane and her husband have two young boys. In her spare time, she loves cooking and trying new recipes. She also enjoys drinking coffee, traveling, and playing at the beach with her family.
Hannah Major
Our Paralegal
Hannah uses her considerable documentation, research, and project management skills to help growing businesses with their contracts, employment matters, and corporate entity filings. Hannah keeps our clients happy by making sure their legal projects move along in a timely and accurate manner.
Hannah graduated from Missouri State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Professional Writing and minors in Public Administration and English.
When she's not working, Hannah loves writing and talking about literature, yoga, and anything outdoors in the Missouri Ozarks where she lives.
Blake HewittWright
Our Client Concierge
Blake welcomes clients to our team and serves as a bridge between client and firm to ensure our clients have a positive and efficient experience with our team.
Blake helped grow her family's makeup and color business, elea blake cosmetics, into a global company before her twin sister Elea took over. She then worked for several years as the Executive Assistant and Marketing Manager of a major real estate company while also growing a small entrepreneurial photography and art business, BLAM Photography. She recently published her first book Magic & Myth: Corpse Candle.
Blake and her husband live in Chattanooga with their dog, cat, and pig. In her spare time, she photographs clients, gardens, and works on various art projects.
Brooke Behar
Our Operations Coordinator,
Brooke, is the process and systems guru at the AWB Firm, making sure that each and every client project is administered timely and efficiently.
Brooke and her family moved around the country and across the world before landing in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 2006.
Brooke is active in the music ministry at her church and enjoys the creative outlets of singing, cooking, baking, art, sewing, upholstery, knitting, traveling, and developing her handy(wo)man skills.
Allison Mastin
Our Engagement Specialist,
Allison, welcomes potential clients to our firm and ensures that everyone who contacts us receives a prompt and personal response.
Allison’s background includes communications for non-profit groups as well as paralegal work in corporate law. The last several years have been dedicated to working with teens and women through her yoga and life-coaching practice. This combined experience gives Allison the unique ability to understand the perspective of our potential clients and identify how our firm can support them. Allison graduated from Rhodes College with a B.A. in History. She is a E-RYT 500 with Yoga Alliance and an ICF Certified Holistic Life Coach.
When not working or on the yoga mat, Allison can be found exploring trails near her home in Chattanooga, trying out new recipes, and traveling to places near and far.
