By Sara Johnson for I95 Business

Now a year old, the partners at Maryland law firm Nguyen Roche Sutton are working to define what a law firm can be on their terms.

The three named partners — Jason Nguyen, Erin Roche, and Tim Sutton — met while working at a large firm. “Just over a year ago, circumstances shifted — and we saw an opportunity to rebuild from the ground up. We believed that starting fresh would ultimately be a step forward, both for our clients and for our own lives,” Nguyen says.

Nguyen and Roche co-founded the firm in March 2024. Sutton followed Roche and Nguyen from their prior firm just a few months later, in July 2024.

Even though the firm is only a few months into its second year, the team has already worked cases throughout the state, from St. Mary’s County to Baltimore County to Worcester County. Nguyen shares that the goal was to “build a firm not bound by legacy thinking, but designed for the way people and businesses operate today — agile, tech-forward, and deeply focused on delivering smart, modern legal solutions.”

According to a 2024 survey by the American Bar Association, Maryland ranks 9th among U.S. states for the number of lawyers per 1,000 residents.

“I’ve always been passionate about mentorship and building a strong, connected community,” says Sutton. “I saw one of my own mentors lead that way, and it inspired me to do the same — but with a more modern, nimble approach that values our people above all else.” That modern approach has paid off. Since launching last year, the firm has grown from serving roughly 30 clients to more than 150 today.

Nguyen adds, “We wanted to challenge the outdated image of a lawyer — someone unapproachable, overworked, and disconnected. Instead, we’re building a firm centered on a holistic, people-first model that serves both our clients and our team in a healthier, more meaningful way.” The firm now includes six attorneys — the named partners plus Matthew Thumser, Aaron Goodwin, and new Criminal Department Manager, Mark Sobel — and its growth has been entirely organic. “We’ve never set out to recruit,” Nguyen says. “Each attorney on our team came to us, one by one, because they aligned with our vision.”

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