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§ 01Practices§ 02How we work§ 03Fees§ 04Work§ 05People§ 06OfficesStart a conversation

Counsel for founders & funds

Plain answers.Strong deals.Counsel that calls you back.

Big-firm precision, boutique attention. Flat fees, straight talk, Texas roots.

Start a conversationSee how we work
Scroll — exhibits follow
By the numbers

Proof, not adjectives.

850+Venture rounds guided

Every round since 2014, both coasts included.

$2.6BTransaction value

Add up the wires. That is the number, not a range.

120+Exits, both sides

Buy-side and sell-side. We have sat in both chairs.

1-dayTypical reply

Most answers land before lunch. Sunday nights count.

FlatOn most deals

Quoted in writing before a single hour is worked.

4Texas offices

Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Houston.

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.

We built the firm we kept wishing the other side had.

The five partners of Marlow Ash standing together in the firm's lobby.
EXHIBIT A-1 — THE PARTNERS
Dana Marlow · Theo Ash · Priya Raman · Marcus Bell · June Okafor
  • § 1.1Relationships over timesheets
  • § 1.2Candor over hedging
  • § 1.3The deal over the ego
THE OFFICE

The office is calm on purpose.

Practice areas

Eight ways we earn the retainer.

  • A founder's desk mid-round: documents, espresso, an early-stage office.

    SAFEs, priced rounds, and the cap-table math between.

    SAFE — POST-MONEY
  • Two executives shaking hands across a boardroom table as advisors look on.

    LOIs to closing dinners — tight process, real risks flagged.

    ASSET PURCHASE AGMT.
  • A leather portfolio and fountain pen resting on ruled ledger paper.

    Fund formation, side letters, Friday-night GP questions.

    LPA — FUND I
  • A product studio bench with prototypes and technical drawings.

    Trademarks, licensing, and assignments that survive diligence.

    IP ASSIGNMENT
  • A team mid-conversation in a bright office kitchen.

    Handbooks people read, grants done right, clean exits.

    PIIA
  • A commercial building of warm stone and glass seen from street level.

    First real office to the HQ with your name on it.

    LEASE — NNN
  • A stadium tunnel opening onto a floodlit field at dusk.

    Teams, leagues, athletes, NIL — the deals behind the game.

    SPONSORSHIP AGMT.
  • An engineer at a warmly lit hardware bench in a research lab.

    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

For when the company got real.

How we work

Day zero to the wire.

A fountain pen resting over a certificate page beside sealing wax.
Day zero01 / 05

Formation

Entity, founder equity, vesting, IP — who owns what, settled before it's costly.

CERT. OF FORMATION
Two founders shaking hands over a laptop at a cafe table.
First money02 / 05

Seed

SAFEs and seed rounds in plain English — what's market, what moves your ownership.

SAFE — $4.5M POST
A boardroom mid-pitch in morning light.
Priced rounds03 / 05

Growth

Series A–D: charters, board seats, protective provisions. The round moves; weekends survive.

SERIES A — SPA
An open-plan office floor humming with people at work.
Real company04 / 05

Scale

Employment, contracts, IP, the first real lease — a company's legal plumbing.

MSA · LEASE · PIIA
Two silhouettes shaking hands over a conference table at dusk, skyline beyond.
The other side05 / 05

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 roundQuoted up front$38,500
  • Phone calls (14)Never billed$0
  • Sunday-night email10:41 PM$0
  • Six-minute incrementsStruck—
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.

The first call is free. The quote is in writing.

Start a conversationReplies within one business day.
IN SESSION

Most questions are a ten-minute call. The meter stays off.

Free download — Ebook

The Plain-English
Contract Playbook.

Most small companies don't get burned by the fight — they get burned by the fine print they skimmed. Twelve costly clauses, decoded in plain English.

WHAT'S INSIDE
  • CL. 01The auto-renewal that never lets go
  • CL. 04Indemnity, uncapped
  • CL. 07“Sole discretion” and other one-way streets
  • CL. 09The venue you'll never fly to
  • CL. 12Termination for convenience

Where should we send it?

One email. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

EXHIBIT C — SELECTED MATTERS

Recent work, minus the gravitas.

SERIES B

$38M

Project Caldera

Consumer fintech — term sheet to wire in 41 days.

ACQUISITION

$74M

Logistics platform exit

Sell-side M&A, 120-person operations company.

FUND FORMATION

$25M

Emerging manager, Fund I

Formation, side letters and first close.

SEED

$4.5M

Post-money SAFE round

Then the priced round eight months later.

SPORTS & NIL

30+

Collective structuring

Entity design and 30+ athlete agreements, signed.

CROSS-BORDER EXIT

$52M

SaaS acquisition

Two time zones, one checklist, zero drama.

EXHIBIT D — APPEARANCES

Small firm. On purpose.

The person in the pitch is the person on your matter.

Dana Marlow, Founding Partner at Marlow Ash

Dana Marlow

Founding Partner — Venture & M&A

Serious about barbecue

Theo Ash, Founding Partner at Marlow Ash

Theo Ash

Founding Partner — Fund Representation

Vinyl collector

Priya Raman, Partner at Marlow Ash

Priya Raman

Partner — Startups & Venture

Marathon runner

Marcus Bell, Counsel at Marlow Ash

Marcus Bell

Counsel — Sports & Gaming

Coaches youth basketball

June Okafor, Senior Associate at Marlow Ash

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.

A corner of the firm's reading room: floor-to-ceiling shelves, a leather chair, a brass lamp.
THE READING ROOM

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.

A. ReyesFounder & CEO, fintech
01 / 03
Offices

Texas roots. Delaware paperwork.

Pick a city — or use the arrow keys.

DOCKET OF OFFICESFOUR · TEXAS
CORRIDORS
DAL–AUS195 MI3H 05
AUS–SAT80 MI1H 20
SAT–HOU200 MI2H 55
HOU–DAL240 MI3H 30

Dallas

2400 Commerce Street, Suite 500
Deep Ellum, Dallas, TX 75201

Hours
Mon–Fri · 8:30–6:00 CT
FOCUS
  • Venture
  • M&A
  • Funds

HQ — the one with the good coffee.

SCHEDULE 1 — 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. Start one →

NEW MATTER — INTAKE

Tell us what you’re building.

Thirty minutes, no meter. What we'd do, the cost, whether you need us yet.

Replies within one business day. Usually faster.
FORM MA-1 — NEW MATTER