At 31, Shymane Robinson is the youngest Black lawyer to open an office on the Southside of Chicago

Shymane Robinson is a Chicago native, an attorney, founder, and entrepreneur. She is the founder of True Lawyer which also offers General Counsel to Cyprus Investments, LLC., a privately held investment company in Chicago. She started her law firm with both her best friend and sister.

She recently opened an office on the Southside of Chicago, making her the youngest Black lawyer to have a law firm office on that side of Chicago.

The 31-year-old is also the first in America to ever offer a Trademark Guarantee, according to Black Business, and her goal is to help Black businesses gain ownership of their brand and leverage their assets with real estate. 

“Lawyers are often rewarded for working long hours and billing as much as they can regardless of their success rate. As a result client often receive expensive legal bills with minimum results making it impossible for small businesses to afford legal representation,” said Robinson.

The USPTO reports that intellectual property protections account for more than $8 trillion in economic activity. And for Robinson, it is important that businesses gain ownership of patents, trademarks, and copyrights.

She also understands how lack of legal representation contributes to the wealth gap and to close the gap, she advocates for a great focus on ownership.

“In an effort to increase ownership and help transform communities, we guarantee if we clear a mark and it doesn’t register our office will trademark your next mark for FREE until you gain ownership of your brand,” Robinson said.

Aside from owning a law firm, Robinson is also a real estate investor. She created Build Your Own Wealth to provide real estate investors advice.

For potential real estate investors, Robinson’s advice is to just get started. “Never allow fear, money, or the unknown to discourage you from investing. There are many areas of real estate you can invest in. Pick one strategy, become an expert in this strategy first, invest and repeat, she told SheenMagazine.