Family Business Lawyer:
Hero or Villain?

By Ann Massie Nelson

The family business has proven to be fertile ground for novelists and playwrights throughout history, and for good reason. All the classic elements of drama—conflict, romance, wealth, power, grief, history, ambition, envy, and pride—are ripe for the writer’s picking. There are the self-made father, the ne’er-do-well son, the hard-working but overlooked senior employee, the shrewd sister-in-law, and the sweet yet sad mother.