Jan. 30, 2019

Two best friends from law school have become business partners.

Kasey Olivier and Ashley Miles Holtz have formed Olivier Miles Holtz Law Firm.

After graduating from the USD School of Law in 2012, Olivier pursued civil litigation while Miles Holtz focused on criminal defense.

They joined the same firm shortly after Olivier co-founded HPS Law Firm in 2015 and then decided to start their own this year.

“I think as a younger generation and being women that we had creative ideas – ideas to provide better client services – and we wanted the ability to execute them, to be able to stand out and say this is who we are,” Olivier said.

“We don’t need a massive firm umbrella to legitimize that we are good at what we do.”

The firm focuses on civil litigation, business litigation, estate disputes, personal injury, workplace injury and criminal defense.

“We’ve been busy,” Olivier said. “We expect to be growing soon. We’ve had a very positive response since we opened, and we’re already looking at what other resources we need to bring in.”

The plan is to remain a boutique firm, though.

“When a firm gets really large, you lose a lot of client contact,” Olivier said. “Here, if you call to talk to your lawyer, you talk to your lawyer.”

Olivier Miles Holtz shares office space at 4201 S. Minnesota Ave. and some services with Nicholson Law.

“A lot of times small firms won’t have the financial resources to take your case or the people resources they need to take your case, and we do,” Olivier said. “We make sure your case gets the attention it needs in the same way a big firm would, but we keep our costs much lower.”

The firm also has gone paperless, “which is really rare for a law firm,” she added.

“And we’re going to be incorporating technology that allows clients to log in at any point and see the status of their case, what’s on the list to do and what’s been done. Our goal is to have the best client experience.”