Counsel for founders & funds
WHEREAS, the party of the first part, hereinafter referred to as… Here's the deal.
Plain answers.Strong deals.Counsel that calls you back.
Big-firm precision, boutique attention. Flat fees, straight talk, Texas roots.
By the numbers
Proof, not adjectives.
EXHIBIT A — OUR THESIS
We see ourselves as a law firm a company that practices law.
An institution built to endure — people first, technology second.
- § 1.1Relationships over timesheets
- § 1.2Candor over hedging
- § 1.3The deal over the ego
Practice areas
Eight ways we earn the retainer.
SAFEs, priced rounds, and the cap-table math between.
SAFE — POST-MONEYLOIs to closing dinners — tight process, real risks flagged.
ASSET PURCHASE AGMT.Fund formation, side letters, Friday-night GP questions.
LPA — FUND ITrademarks, licensing, and assignments that survive diligence.
IP ASSIGNMENTHandbooks people read, grants done right, clean exits.
PIIAFirst real office to the HQ with your name on it.
LEASE — NNNTeams, leagues, athletes, NIL — the deals behind the game.
SPONSORSHIP AGMT.AI, blockchain, whatever ships next quarter.
TOKEN WARRANT
Who we serve
Who we bring along.
Founders
Garage to term sheet.
Funds & GPs
First close to final.
Operators
Plumbing once you have plumbing.
How we work
Day zero to the wire.
One firm, incorporation to exit.
01Day zero Formation
Entity, founder equity, vesting, IP — who owns what, settled before it's costly.
CERT. OF FORMATION02First money Seed
SAFEs and seed rounds in plain English — what's market, what moves your ownership.
SAFE — $4.5M POST03Priced rounds Growth
Series A–D: charters, board seats, protective provisions. The round moves; weekends survive.
SERIES A — SPA04Real company Scale
Employment, contracts, IP, the first real lease — a company's legal plumbing.
MSA · LEASE · PIIA05The other side Exit
M&A, secondaries, the wire that changes everything. Calm hands for the loudest week.
MERGER AGMT.
Fees
Strike the billable hour.
Most work is flat-fee. You know the number first — calls never hit the invoice.
INVOICE — № 0042FLAT FEE
- Series A — full round$38,500
- Phone calls (14)$0
- Sunday-night email$0
- Six-minute increments—
Total — the number we quoted$38,500
- Flat fees, quoted up front
- Scope agreed before work starts
- Calls and quick questions: free
- One number. No meter running.
Free download — EbookThe Plain-English
The Plain-English
Contract Playbook.
Most small companies don't get burned by the fight — they get burned by the fine print they skimmed. This is the field guide: twelve clauses, decoded without the legalese, so you can spot the costly ones before you sign. Read it in an afternoon; keep it on the shelf for every deal after.
WHAT'S INSIDE
- CL. 01The auto-renewal that never lets goThe evergreen clause that quietly re-signs you every year.
- CL. 04Indemnity, uncappedTwo lines that put your whole company on the hook.
- CL. 07“Sole discretion” and other one-way streetsWhere the other side gets to decide, and you don't.
- CL. 09The venue you'll never fly toWhy a courtroom two time zones away is the real fee.
- CL. 12Termination for convenienceWho can walk, when, and what it costs to be left.
One email. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Selected matters
Recent work, minus the gravitas.
$38M
Project Caldera
Consumer fintech — term sheet to wire in 41 days.
$74M
Logistics platform exit
Sell-side M&A, 120-person operations company.
$25M
Emerging manager, Fund I
Formation, side letters and first close.
$4.5M
Post-money SAFE round
Then the priced round eight months later.
30+
Collective structuring
Entity design and athlete agreements.
$52M
SaaS acquisition
Two time zones, one checklist, zero drama.
The people
Small firm. On purpose.
The person in the pitch is the person on your matter.
Dana Marlow
Founding Partner — Venture & M&A
Serious about barbecue
Theo Ash
Founding Partner — Fund Representation
Vinyl collector
Priya Raman
Partner — Startups & Venture
Marathon runner
Marcus Bell
Counsel — Sports & Gaming
Coaches youth basketball
June Okafor
Senior Associate — Emerging Tech
Tinkers with robotics
EXHIBIT B — FOUNDER'S LIBRARY
We explain things. Our whole deal.
A glossary, a deal-stories podcast, and annotated templates. Pick a term.
DEFINED TERM
SAFE
Money now, shares later, priced at the next round. The math isn't so simple.
- PODCAST
Signing Pages
Deal stories, 25 minutes, no jargon.
- GLOSSARY
The Venture Dictionary
180 terms in plain English.
- GUIDES
Annotated documents
Term sheets with margin notes.
They redlined our term sheet on a Sunday, every change in plain English. I stopped dreading my lawyers.
01 / 03
Offices
Texas roots. Delaware paperwork.
Dallas
2400 Commerce Street, Suite 500
Deep Ellum, Dallas, TX
HQ — the one with the good coffee
Austin
1100 East 6th Street, Floor 3
East Austin, TX
Walkable to four taco trucks
Working together
Questions we get before the retainer.
Rarely. Most work is flat-fee, scoped up front. Meter anxiety is the part we deleted.
Before you split equity, take money, or sign anything 'exclusive.' The cheapest legal work is early.
Constantly. The deals are Delaware paper anyway. Texas is home, not a boundary.
No. The person in the pitch runs your deal. Small firm, on purpose.
Nothing. If we're not the fit, we'll say who is.
Tell us what you're building.
Thirty minutes, no meter. What we'd do, the cost, whether you need us yet.
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