Our Team

Andrew Lillis founded Lampblack Legal and has practiced law since 2007. He started as foreign legal counsel with one of China’s largest law firms in Beijing, then worked as senior legal counsel in the biotech industry in Hong Kong. He has been in private commercial practice in the USA since 2012. He is admitted as an attorney in New York and Texas and as a solicitor (non-practising) in Ireland and England & Wales. He holds a Bachelor of Civil Law from University College Dublin, a Master’s in Chinese Law from the University of Hong Kong and an MBA from Quantic University of Business & Technology.

Andrew served as Secretary of the Irish American Bar Association of New York for a decade and remains active on pro bono asylum matters.

August leads the firm’s operations and technology. He designs the processes behind how matters move through the firm, from client intake and onboarding to document workflows and billing, and builds the systems that keep them running: practice management software, secure document handling, and the automations that remove repetitive administrative work so our attorneys can focus on delivering legal strategies for our clients.

His approach is scientific. Trained as a physician with a background in immunology and microbiology, August treats every process as something to be measured, tested and improved. He brings more than a decade of experience in marketing operations, content management and technology for regulated, compliance-driven industries, where accuracy, traceability and data protection are not optional.

At Lampblack, that translates into a firm that runs with precision: clear workflows, reliable technology, and client data handled to rigorous corporate standards.

As Client Communications Manager, Denis ensures every business owner partnering with the firm experiences a seamless, supportive, and highly responsive journey. She serves as the vital bridge between our legal team and the business community we serve.

She manages our external firm communications, client onboarding and lifecycle communications, and community outreach initiatives. Denis recognizes that navigating commercial legal matters can be daunting for small and medium-sized enterprises. Her primary focus is to ease this process, ensuring our clients feel heard, informed, and empowered from their initial consultation through to case resolution.

With a background in psychology and marketing, and prior experience as a lifecycle and email marketing consultant and content strategist, Denis is dedicated to building long-term, trust-based relationships with the entrepreneurs we serve.

Emily Smith is a paralegal focusing on core business competencies, immigration and corporate governance, Emily combines business acumen with strong attention to detail. Having spent a year teaching English in Korea and two successive summers interning with legal nonprofits, Emily brings a broad array of experience to Lampblack Legal.

Amit is a research intern with a background in computer biology and mathematics. With the goal of leveraging his technical background to develop a future legal career focusing on technology/privacy issues, Amit’s research skills are second to none.