Our Team

My Personal Background

I’m not just a family law and estate planning attorney, I’m also someone who has actually been through a custody battle in court and have young children whose future I have to protect. I can honestly say – I know what you’re going through!

Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, I moved to the United States with my family when I was 11 years old.  I speak fluent Russian and English and have worked hard to be able to do what I love and help other families resolve their family conflicts in the best way possible.

I earned my Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Stetson University in Deland, Fl.  I then attended Stetson University in Gulfport, FL where I earned my law degree along with a Master’s in Business Administration, MBA. When I was halfway through law school I became pregnant with twins and raised them as a single mom for 9 years.

My children’s dad had minimal involvement with them from the beginning and only for a brief period of time.  After going through the adversarial court process, which was the only option I was aware of at that time, he ultimately chose not to be involved in their lives.  I firmly believe that if we had the support that a collaborative team provides, he might have made a different decision and our children would not have missed out on having a father for so many years.

Luckily, I met and married a wonderful man who took in and raised my twins as his own and we added two more beautiful tots to the bunch.  Although our marriage ended up not working out, we worked out an amicable separation and are blessed to have made a very smooth transition for our children and to have a wonderful co-parenting relationship with each other.  I have experienced, professionally and personally, the difference in the outcomes for families fighting in court versus ones where families are empowered to make their own decisions for their family.  It is my mission to make the process as easy for your family as possible.

I also understand firsthand the concerns that most adults have about what is going to happen to them and their assets in case of incapacity and to their family should something unthinkable happen to them.  I understand the importance of proper planning and use not only my legal knowledge and experience to assist clients but my personal understanding and compassion in helping them protect their family’s future.

Work Experience

I became a member of the Florida Bar in July 2009 and worked for a Civil Litigation Law Firm until October 2010, when I decided to start my own practice and focus primarily on helping families address their legal needs.

Through my own experience and the many family cases I’ve litigated over the years, I came to realize that families DO NOT belong in Court.  I knew there had to be a better way for families to resolve conflict.

Whether a custody battle or a battle over your loved one’s assets, litigation adds fuel to the fire of an already emotionally strained situation.  It is my passion to educate families to help them avoid conflict and if conflict arises, to resolve it peacefully and privately.  I have dedicated my practice to helping individuals establish proper plans to protect their loved ones in the event they are no longer here to do so themselves and assist families in resolving their family law related cases effectively, efficiently and peacefully.   Let us help you keep your family out of court and out of conflict with each other, because YOUR FAMILY MATTERS™!

Experience

Jennie Lascelle is an of counsel attorney with the firm, committed to helping clients navigate periods of family conflict and marital transition through her practice in the areas of family law, family mediation, and estate planning. Jennie is a native of Sarasota and earned her A.B., cum laude, from Harvard, and her law degree from Georgetown, where she served as an editor of a law journal on poverty issues. She has been a member of the Florida Bar since 2001 and is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator.

Jennie understands first-hand the great emotional, physical, and financial toll that divorce can take on your life and that of your family. Having survived a long and arduous divorce with young children, herself, she is dedicated to helping others go through the process in an easier, more amicable way – without going to court. 

With deep roots in the community, Jennie has served through the years on several charitable boards whose missions relate to the protection and education of children and families in our region. She has served as the Past President of the Sarasota Chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers and is a member of the local Harvard Schools Committee.