Who We Are
We are a bespoke law firm specializing in estate planning which we call Life and Legacy planning. As a trained and certified Personal Family Lawyer™, our approach and technical innovation allow us to create your individualized plan within 6-8 weeks while easily updating it as your life changes or the law changes.
Your Journey to a Fulfilling Life
Who We Are
Who We Are
We desire to create a lifetime, ongoing relationship with you, so that when planning with us, your plan will keep up with those changes.
Our Philosophy
Here at Blue Ridge Legacy Law, we believe estate planning is about much more than just the transfer of your financial wealth. In fact, we look at your whole FAMILY wealth, ensuring you transfer your financial wealth AND your most important personal wealth to your loved ones- your intellectual and spiritual assets. Our integrated approach to the whole you helps us collaborate together to develop a highly personalized, strategic estate plan. A plan that will work exactly as designed and one that will bring peace of mind and family harmony.
Julie Upshaw
Founding Attorney
I am passionate about educating and guiding your family to create an estate plan that will provide you with peace of mind.
I have been an attorney since 2001(Georgia State University College of Law, Atlanta). As much as I enjoyed law school, the actual practice of law as a real estate closing attorney was not as fulfilling as I had expected. My interactions with clients were frustratingly transactional in nature and I found that I wanted more connection. I desired a meaningful, ongoing relationship with my clients – to be their counselor at law and trusted advisor. Then, after experiencing a terminally ill family member going through the process of planning his estate and legacy for his wife and children, and bearing witness to the serenity and peace he felt when he knew his plan was legally in place, I knew I wanted to devote my law practice to estate and legacy planning.
I founded Blue Ridge Legacy Law to help families navigate the important foundational planning needed for a comprehensive estate plan. As a certified Personal Family Lawyer ® , I am able to educate and empower my clients to make informed legacy decisions. My goal as a Personal Family Lawyer® is to foster relationships and to become your trusted advisor and counselor at law for your estate plan as we tailor to your individual needs, goals and desires throughout your life.
I know that having an estate and legacy plan in place is one of the best ways to live a full and meaningful life and I would be honored to be your Personal Family Lawyer ®
When not dedicating time to my estate planning clients, I enjoy spending time with my husband, John and our three adult children, two cats and Huckleberry-our family’s devoted yellow lab.
Leslie Coats Stevens
Client Services and Operations Director
Leslie is excited and honored to join Blue Ridge Legacy Law. She has recently retired from her fulfilling career as a Hospice and Palliative Care physician. Her great joy came from serving patients and their loved ones with a holistic approach – as a part of a team that recognized the ‘whole’ person and their family. Her role at Blue Ridge Legacy Law in Client Services is an opportunity to continue her passion of “whole person care” by encouraging and assisting clients to plan for their estate, legacy and advanced health care needs. She knows that it is never too late or too early to leave a legacy. She and her husband of 29 years are the proud parents of two scottish terriers and a huge maine coon cat.
