Inside the remote-first law firm finding success in Charlotte

Nearly five years ago, two Charlotte lawyers built the law firm they wished existed. Their success proves it's exactly what clients, the community and the next generation of lawyers needed.

The background: Matt Villmer and Bo Caudill spent years working in traditional law firms. After the pandemic forced people to go remote, they took a hard look at the legal industry's rigid culture.

What they saw was bureaucracy, mandatory office time, outdated definitions of success and a disconnect between clients and their lawyers.

• In other words: Lawyers were being asked to sacrifice their autonomy, while clients were expected to accept inconvenience and detachment from the people representing them.

Villmer and Caudill knew there was a better way. In 2022, they started Villmer Caudill Business & Litigation Attorneys (VC), a fully remote firm built around human relationships and work-life freedom.

• The idea: "We wanted to bring the human element back to the practice of law," said Villmer. "Our core values revolve around our desire to be directly in contact with our clients, to give people the flexibility that they want, and to bring back the kindness and respect that may have been lost over the years."

How it's done: While building VC's culture, Villmer and Caudill challenged the longstanding assumptions about how lawyers should work, how they create their practices and what strong client service looks like.

🧑‍💻 They ditched the mandatory office time.

VC rejects the "butts-in-seats" expectation. There's no requirement for team members to be in the office, and the founders say there never will be.

• For Caudill, being remote means more time with his young son. "Every morning when my son wakes up, he can walk down the stairs and right into my office," he said. "That is one of my favorite sounds: the sound of his footsteps coming down the stairs."

Okay, but: The firm still makes connection a priority. The team often gets together for sports games, escape rooms and social gatherings put on by the events committee.

💼 They prioritized freedom without sacrificing quality.

Every lawyer at VC has the autonomy to choose what clients to represent, what cases to take on and what type of business to pursue.

For Villmer, freedom is foundational. "I always wanted a firm to get out of the way and give me the tools to build the practice I wanted," he said.

• He has used the autonomy to align his practice with his passion for education and business, and he empowers the other VC lawyers to do the same.

Caudill adds that freedom always comes with accountability. "Our lawyers have to have the courage to honor their commitments. But the choice of which cases to take and what clients to represent is theirs initially — that's the power we give everybody here," he explained.

🤝 They centered strong client relationships.

At VC, clients can connect directly with their attorney without the typical hoops and hurdles. And despite being remote, VC makes client face time a priority so that the people they serve and the deeper purpose of their work stay front and center.

• "People love that they don't have to come to my office. They love the fact that we go to them or that we can chat over Zoom," Villmer said.

But it's about more than client convenience. "The law lives outside," Caudill notes. Meeting clients where they are takes the work from theoretical to tangible, and keeps the deeper purpose of their day-to-day at the forefront.

The impact: The modern business model they've built is working. VC started out with five employees and now has almost 20 as they approach the firm's five-year anniversary in January 2027.

And they're just getting started.

Looking ahead: "We're building the kind of future and law firm that employs people who have an entrepreneurial spirit, and who want to go out and build the practice they want," said Villmer.

• They hope to continue hiring like-minded lawyers who bring deep curiosity and human empathy to their work.

The takeaway: In an industry that is slow to change, Villmer and Caudill's approach is redefining what freedom, integrity and human connection look like in the legal industry.

• "If you can break those traditional industry barriers, maybe your law firms, maybe the practice of law, maybe the law itself, will start to look a bit more like the communities and the businesses and the people that we represent," said Caudill.

Take your law career into your own hands at Villmer Caudill.