ABOUT GISTENSON LAW
Legal counsel informed by how businesses actually operate.
Gistenson Law is an Illinois business law practice founded by attorney Leah Gistenson to provide owner-led businesses with experienced, practical legal counsel.
Leah’s perspective has been shaped not only by practicing law, but by working inside businesses and alongside the people responsible for running them. Before founding Gistenson Law, she served in senior legal and business roles, including as general counsel and managing director of a privately held company. She also holds an MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.
That experience informs the way the firm approaches legal work today: understand the business first, identify what matters, and provide legal advice that can actually be used to make a decision and move forward.
THE PERSPECTIVE
Business problems rarely arrive as purely legal problems.
Business owners make decisions with legal, financial, operational, and practical consequences at the same time. Good legal advice should account for that broader context.
Having worked both as outside counsel and inside a business, Leah understands the difference between identifying every possible legal issue and helping a client determine which issues actually matter.
The goal is not to make legal matters more complicated. It is to give clients enough clarity to make informed decisions, manage meaningful risk, and keep the business moving.
LEAH GISTENSON
Legal experience. Business experience. Both matter.
Leah Gistenson is the founder of Gistenson Law. Her career has spanned private legal practice, in-house counsel, business development, and advisory roles, giving her experience approaching legal issues from both the lawyer’s and the business decision-maker’s perspective.
Before founding Gistenson Law, Leah served as General Counsel and Managing Director of a privately held company conducting transactions across the country. She was responsible for the company’s legal matters and agreements and also worked on business development, giving her firsthand experience with the commercial considerations that shape legal decisions.
Her earlier experience includes legal and business advisory work with companies navigating transactions, growth, financial challenges, and other periods of significant change.
She founded Gistenson Law to bring that combination of legal judgment and business perspective to owner-led companies that may not need—or want—a full-time in-house legal department.
Leah lives in Northbrook with her family. Outside the office, she enjoys traveling, cooking and entertaining, fitness, and the performing arts.
EDUCATION
Indiana University Kelley School of Business
Master of Business Administration
Named a Poets&Quants Best & Brightest Online MBA
University of Iowa College of Law
Juris Doctor
University of Iowa
Bachelor of Science, Political Science
ADMISSIONS
Illinois
REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE
Advising small businesses on formation, operating agreements, ownership structure, and governance.
Reviewing and negotiating commercial leases for business tenants.
Drafting and negotiating vendor, contractor, service, and other commercial agreements.
Advising business owners on ownership changes, restructurings, and business transitions.
Serving as outside counsel on recurring and significant business matters.
Advising a medical spa and wellness business on contracts, leasing, governance, and related business-law matters.
Coordinating with specialty counsel when matters require litigation, employment, intellectual property, or other specialized legal expertise.
START A CONVERSATION
Looking for practical legal counsel for your business?
Whether you need ongoing outside general counsel or help with a important contract, ownership matter, commercial lease, or business transition, tell us a little about your business and what you’re facing.