Founders, partners, Turner & Rasch
Sydney Rasch and Presley Turner both had their eyes set on the legal field from a young age. The pair met in law school, graduating together in 2019, and they found their interests and visions aligning even further at a leadership conference the following year. In 2021, they jumped at the chance to go into business together, and the Little Rock family and domestic practice law firm, Turner & Rasch, was born. Since its founding, Turner & Rasch has grown to nine full-time staff members, including four attorneys, three paralegals and two legal secretaries. What is more, thanks to a larger staff, the firm has been able to expand its practice area outside of central Arkansas to encompass all 75 counties in the state.
How did you get into your respective careers?
Presley: I always knew I wanted to be a lawyer or a social worker. Fortunately, having my social work license, and working in family law, I get to use both of those areas every single day.
Sydney: I actually have always wanted to work in law. My uncle is an attorney, and I started clerking at his firm at 16 years old. I went on to be a paralegal there before I went to law school. I am passionate about helping others; I fell into family law and figured out I loved it pretty quickly.
How do your working styles complement each other?
Sydney: We work so well together — very much a “finish each other’s sentences” relationship at times. Presley always has great ideas for the next thing for us, and we tend to have a lot of the same thoughts at the same time. I act as managing partner of the firm, so I try to take those ideas and turn them into action.
What is the secret to collaboration and compromise in business or everyday life?
Presley: I think the secret is communication and compassion. You’re never going to agree on every single decision, but if you can talk about how you feel it helps tremendously.
Do you think it’s important to keep your business and personal relationships separate?
Presley: For us, personally, I think it’s impossible to keep it separate. We love what we do, and our firm is like a family.
In what ways are you involved in your community outside of work?
Nonprofit work is so important to both of us, as well as our staff. We believe that giving back to the community is not just helpful it is necessary. While the firm keeps us busier these days and we are not able to directly volunteer as often, we regularly donate to local legal nonprofits that help provide access to justice for those who cannot afford private attorneys, scholarships for deserving women law students and other support for women in the legal profession because those values are so important to us. We also serve our community through our volunteer work with the Junior League of Little Rock, and we have both served on several nonprofit boards, including the Arkansas Association of Women Lawyers.
What else should readers know?
We are a really fun, easy-going group of women, and our office is very homey and cute. We want to break the stereotype of the stark, stuffy lawyer’s office and make people feel as comfortable as possible.
