LeMaster Law Firm

Jennifer LeMaster’s career as a personal injury attorney has been fruitful, formidable and, ultimately, fulfilling. However, LeMaster’s journey, despite guiding her down a long and unconventional road, never took the Tomball-area native too far from home. When she founded the LeMaster Law Firm in 2017, she began working with clients while running a solo operation from her home office. Less than a decade later, LeMaster’s firm features four full-time employees and recently outgrew its leased office space in The Woodlands. As she takes the next step in expanding her firm, Jennifer LeMaster is going home again – this time to a vintage house in Tomball.

Roots remained in Tomball amid ascension as attorney

LeMaster, born and raised in Spring, is an alumna of Tomball’s Concordia Lutheran High School and received both her Bachelor of Science degree (magna cum laude) and Doctor of Juris Prudence (cum laude) from the University of Houston. While keeping her roots in the Tomball-area, LeMaster joined a Houston-based litigation boutique before working as an attorney.  After a brief time working in-house for an oil and gas company, she went back to private practice where she later achieved partner status at an international law firm.  However, that ascension turned out to not be the pinnacle position many regard it as being.

“I just wasn’t happy,” LeMaster recalled. “I wasn’t being the mom I wanted to be. Being a partner didn’t feel like it was worth the very hard life it came with. It felt empty to me, so as a methodical thinker – I took a year off to figure out how to be happy as a lawyer.”

Six months into a sabbatical from her role as partner, she says she emphatically knew what she wanted to do and where she wanted to do it – so the LeMaster Law Firm was born.

“I want to work for myself,” LeMaster asserted. “I want to take cases as I see fit and be choosy with my clients. I want to just practice law because I love practicing law and because I love helping people – and when thinking about where I really want to put my roots for this law firm, it was just a no-brainer to make it Tomball.”

Making the move after making the move

Not long after establishing the LeMaster Law Firm, a boutique personal injury law firm serving Texans, Jennifer began broadening her practice and soon became too expansive for both her home office and leased executive suite. A self-declared “very thoughtful research-oriented person”, LeMaster created a spreadsheet to analyze all prospective areas to which to relocate from The Woodlands.

“Tomball was always the clear winner,” LeMaster revealed. “I know the market very well in Houston, having practiced law for 22 years in the area – and this is just the best place to have a law office. I love the accessibility to State Highway 99 (The Grand Parkway) and State Highway 249 (The Tomball Parkway). Tomball is the center of much of suburban Houston.”

After pinpointing Tomball as the site of her firm’s permanent office, LeMaster pored over dozens of properties while admittedly trying to land a “gem”. Her treasure was found in the form of a 70-year-old, 2,000 square foot home located just off Main Street in Tomball.

“The minute we walked in this property, we knew it was absolutely the spot,” LeMaster recounted. “It had the charm I was looking for but also checked all the right boxes square footage-wise to very easily turn into an office. We made an offer the same day.”

While pledging to honor the vintage interior roots of the house through efforts like wallpaper selections and antique furniture, LeMaster is converting the three-bedroom home at 203 Raymond Street into a workspace featuring six offices and two bathrooms. She notes that the classic home, most recently used as a short-term vacation rental, is an appropriate setting for her practice as she and her team plan to move in early in October.

“I would have never considered moving my firm to downtown Houston or signing a big bank lease,” LeMaster disclosed. “When I set out to open my own firm, it was to be the opposite of other personal injury firms and big mega firms. We treat our clients like family and we want you to treat us the same, so having a home-like office that feels comfortable and local is 100 percent an extension of that approach.”

Her name, her firm, her office – but not just her space

LeMaster Law Firm’s new home not only offers six offices for just four full-time employees, it’s also big enough to expand into the backyard should more offices be needed in the future. The reason for that is Jennifer’s affinity for community. She plans to lease the extra space to business tenants and use the property, improved with an assist from the Tomball Economic Development Corporation’s (TEDC) Façade Improvement Grant (FIG), to host events.

“The most exciting part for me is the collaboration,” LeMaster noted. “I’m a social being and everyone in my office is a social being, so we’re looking forward to being able to collaborate with another professional business and form a little community here. I want to be part of Tomball, so we plan to host events for other women-owned businesses or business owners in general.”

LeMaster says the impetus for her connection to the Tomball community is deeper than her longtime ties to the area.

“I’ve told so many friends and colleagues to move their business to Tomball because the people at the EDC were so kind and accommodating,” LeMaster remarked. “They were so patient with all my questions and so easy to work with, even offering to introduce me to folks in town to help get our name out there. You’re just not going to get that in every suburban Houston community. I wish we could move in tomorrow – we’re all so excited.”

LeMaster concedes it’s “kind of mind-boggling”, even for an attorney and methodical thinker like herself, that she’s gone from a leap of faith in a home office to owning her own building while helping to support other people’s families through full-time employment at her firm. And while the journey has been long and breathtaking, it’s also come full circle: taking Jennifer LeMaster home to Tomball.