Our firm serves individuals and organizations across a full spectrum of transactional practice areas.

Our practice was born of a deep-seated affinity for startups and their founders. We have served as outside general counsel to over a thousand emerging companies, and many of the firm’s attorneys have themselves had direct entrepreneurial experience. To say that the firm was born to serve innovators and the companies they found would in no sense be an overstatement.

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We begin working with clients at formation by advising founders on company structure, taxation, employment, intellectual property protection, obtaining financing and corporate governance. We help our clients grow by negotiating successful deals and writing agreements that are essential to their business. Regardless of whether we’re counseling an early-stage venture or introducing capital to worthy investment opportunities, our Startup & Emerging Companies Practice offers advice and service that is creative, practical, and responsive.

We have worked on thousands of deals, from pre-seed to Series C financings and beyond. We represent companies raising funds, as well as angel and venture capital investors. On the company side we are highly attuned to the sensitivities of founders around issues of control and economics and are committed to giving grounded and commercially sound advice. On the investor side, we are skilled in structuring transactions to position each client for optimal returns from liquidity events and economic protection in non-performing investments. Our clients are repeat customers thanks to our trusted and tailored representation coupled with flawless execution.

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Each deal is different from the next, and our ability to deliver insightful legal expertise bespeaks our wealth of experience. Representing clients on both sides of countless transactions has imparted a deep understanding of our clients’ needs. We pride ourselves in having up-to-date intelligence and relationships in the marketplace and use this knowledge to strategically connect counterparties globally.

We advise on the full range of merger and acquisition transactions involving domestic and foreign business enterprises at all stages of development. We counsel business enterprises and business owners in a wide range of transactions including mergers, asset purchases, spin-offs and the formation of joint ventures. We routinely collaborate with non-U.S. law firms and corporate development teams in cross-border M&A transactions where the target of the acquisition is a domestic business.

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Our clients are often companies and financial sponsors looking to grow strategically through acquisitions or to achieve financial objectives. Our attorneys work closely with specialists in tax, intellectual property, employee benefits, real estate, litigation and bankruptcy to help clients assess opportunities and execute transactions in a timely manner. Our experience in acquisition financings is often of benefit to our clients as well.

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Our counsel to company founders and business owners emphasizes certainty of the transaction. We work to minimize post-closing risk to sellers of businesses and strive, through close association with tax and executive compensation counsel, to structure transactions in a tax-efficient manner.

Employment matters often involve sensitive and personal issues, and companies and individuals look to us for our experience in providing sophisticated and practical advice.

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We work closely with clients to ensure effective employment strategies and executive structures for all types of corporate entities, such as partnership, alliance, joint venture, and other structures. We provide counsel on executive compensation, separation and employment agreements, non-competition and other restrictive covenant and trade secret matters involving key personnel, and the full breadth of issues arising from mergers, acquisitions, and corporate restructurings.

Our commercial practice counsels an array of clients, from emerging companies to larger corporations in technology, finance and professional services, media, advertising, retail, and real estate. Since our inception in 2010, we have represented our clients across thousands of strategic transactions. We offer a balanced solution weighing efficiency, cost-effectiveness and protection.

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We help clients negotiate and manage their commercial contracts and key transactions.  Our attorneys carefully assess our client's particular situation, identifying key issues in parallel with the particularities of our client's business goals. We prioritize clear communication with our clients to help navigate the many intricate issues that arise in negotiating contracts, such as intellectual property protections, limitations on liability and indemnification, product liability issues, data protection, and cross-border issues. Our commercial team brings particular experience counseling on unique, “no precedent” type commercial transactions.

We have a sophisticated private investment funds practice, advising both sponsors and investors, on the formation of and investment in private investment funds pursuing all major investment strategies, including buyout, venture capital, and real estate. Through our representation of a diverse group of sponsors and investors, we have developed particular insight into the terms and structures for various types of funds. Our clients benefit from this unsurpassed depth of experience as we provide seasoned advice, practical and innovative solutions, and first-class service.

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We counsel clients on a broad range of regulatory and operational issues facing registered and unregistered investment advisers, and have substantial experience in negotiating strategic investments in private investment firms and secondary transfers of private fund investments. We also advise clients on complex carried interest planning and co-investment arrangements, often in multiple jurisdictions. In addition, we routinely structure our clients’ internal compensation and employee investment arrangements.

Our tax practice is dedicated to solving complex transactional and financial problems for a diverse group of clients, including multinational corporations, real estate opportunity funds, start-up companies, non-U.S. entities and tax-exempt investors. We are focused on devising innovative and efficient strategies for minimizing the tax consequences of our clients’ diverse business activities.

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We carefully monitor the ever-changing landscape of federal and state tax laws, and regularly advise clients at every stage, from planning and start-up through operations and exit, to minimize tax burdens and maximize profitability. We have substantial experience in handling the tax aspects of start-up transactions and the creation of business and investment organizations, as well as financings, employee options and profits interest, reorganizations, acquisitions, joint ventures and restructurings. Whether a transaction is taxable or tax-free, tax issues play a critical role in a transaction’s structure and legal expertise in tax is a crucial ingredient for a successful outcome.