Vellum LLC is an Alaska law firm that provides legal tools, legal services, and learning centers to Alaska's small businesses.
The Name
Vellum is high quality paper made out of mammal skin that lasts for hundreds of years. The paper is so good that British Acts of Parliament are still printed on vellum for archival purpose.
Our Mission
Vellum is dedicated to designing legal tools and providing legal services that help Alaska’s small business owners fulfill their calling in life.
Our Story
Andrew Mitton worked as an attorney in Alaska law firms for more than seven years and as in-house counsel for large Alaska native corporations for almost seven years. When working for law firms he often provided legal services to Alaska’s small businesses. He discovered that the traditional law firm model didn’t work well for small businesses.
When working as in-house counsel for large corporations he saw the advantages of having a full-time attorney as an employee for the company. He could focus on getting the task done in the right amount of time because he was liberated from the billable hour. He got to know the business inside and out. The employees didn’t hesitate to ask him legal questions. They asked him to review contracts and draft forms. He was able to take a more preventive approach. This is a big advantage for large corporations.
The question is: how can you take all of the advantages of in-house counsel and provide them to small businesses who aren’t large enough to justify the cost of employing a full-time attorney? One answer is the multitude of self-help services. But these services don’t include an attorney. They don’t account for the unique aspects of each companies. And sometime they do a disservice to the small business because they offer a one-size-fits-all approach.
The only way to change this was to redesign legal services for the small business owner from the ground up. Andrew started Vellum in 2011 to do this.
Legal Tools
Vellum’s philosophy is simple: with the right tools and learning resources you can get yourself within 10 yards of the end zone. The right professional can then take you the rest of the way for a touchdown. We’re designing legal tools at Vellum to help you do most of the legwork on your own (this saves you lots of money). You’ll go online, answer questions, and get the forms and documents you need. Our first system we’re working on is an online LLC system.
Legal Services
It’s common for small businesses to wait to engage an attorney until things have gone really bad. This can be costly; but it’s understandable under the current law firm model. Vellum is designed to help the small business owner take a more preventive approach. Vellum wants the small business owner to ask legal questions, ask for legal review, request legal forms, and involve it in big decisions. This helps prevent the really bad stuff from happening.
Learning Centers
In this day and age business owners don’t hesitate to use the internet to learn things. You can find just about anything on the internet, but it’s often difficult to tell how good the information is. We’re developing learning centers where you can get legal information. When you take the time to learn, you’ll be much better equipped when you meet with your attorney. Our first legal center is our LLC Learning Center.