Intellectual Property Protection

Establishing policies and procedures for protection of discoveries, inventions, know-how, trade secrets, including confidentiality and non-compete agreements.  I connect my entrepreneur clients with patent and trademark agents or attorneys whom I trust to provide superior service at reasonable rates. 

Seed Financing and Capital Raising - Debt & Equity

Government and private equity financing for startup, expansion or recapitalization. Startup companies often have difficulty obtaining standard commercial loans. I connect our entrepreneur clients with angel investors, venture capital firms and other private funding sources as well as assist in identifying government funding sources. My clients have been awarded federal grants (SBIR, DOD, DOE) and state grants (NYSERDA, ESDC) and have secured financing through public offerings ($90M, $61M) and private placements ($1.5M up to $12M).

Contracts

Suppliers, equipment, services, customers, joint development agreements, mergers and acquisitions.

Real Estate

Commercial purchase and lease agreements. Recently, I closed on the sale of an $8M property, in the Bronx, $1.1M property in upstate New York, and the sale of a $2M property in Schenectady, NY.

Basic Taxation

Reporting requirements for business entity type, sales tax, and transactions. I connect my entrepreneur clients with accountants who provide advice and services at reasonable rates.

Employment and Management

Employment policies, procedures and legal compliance (hiring, firing, discrimination, COBRA), compensation, restrictive covenants, severance, stock option plans and agreements.

Regulatory Compliance

State filings and reporting, disclosures, Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), licensing, governance, securities regulations.

Corporate Formation, Governance, and Restructuring

In what State should I form my company and why?  What type of company should I form (LLC, C-corp, S-corp) and why?  What if I am a NY LLC, but potential investors want to invest in a Delaware C corporation?  What do I do?

Founders Agreements, Operating Agreements, Buy-Sell Agreements

Too often, we are spending time on fixing problems that could have been avoided in the first place.  A founder leaves after 6 months but owns 20% of the company.  Or, a founder, unfortunately dies, and the remaining founders now own their company with the deceased founder’s next of kin.  We advise our clients how to avoid these problems.

Strategic Alliance Agreements, Joint Development Agreements, License Agreements

Identifying mutually acceptable documents and legal language for funding development and/or licensing while protecting core intellectual property.  [A potential customer or component supplier wants to the development of a product specifically for them.  How do I structure the agreement and still protect my intellectual property?  My company’s patent is licensed from a University or subject to a government grant.  How do I structure agreements with third parties?]

Mergers, Acquisitions, Depositions

Preparation of comprehensible documents and a negotiating approach that identifies amicable solutions to disagreements.   [How do I adequately prepare my company for an acquisition or sale?  Do I have “my house in order”?  What do I need to worry about when buying or selling a company? ]