Private Capital

When it comes to raising money, it is worth taking extra care to get it right. What you do in your early rounds of financing directly affects how you can raise capital and what your exit options are down the road. Additionally, it pays to have your documents done properly; poorly drafted documents and incomplete disclosure is not only a reflection on the founders, but can also result in personal liability if things do not go as expected.

With deep securities expertise, extensive regulatory experience, and an interdisciplinary team of attorneys available to provide individualized counsel, we’re able to help each company we work with raise capital in the way that makes the most sense for its specific long-term strategic vision.

While we love getting involved with entrepreneurs at the beginning of things, we’re equally adept at helping companies that are seeking sophisticated securities counsel for later-stage financings. We structure deals with the full spectrum of investors: from friends and family, to angels and sophisticated venture capital and private equity funds, to strategic industry partners. And we work effectively across a variety of industries including, for instance, craft brewing, food service, life sciences, manufacturing, and emerging technology.

Our private equity lawyers advise private funds on all aspects of fund formation, including fund documentation, sponsor equity, and regulatory compliance. We draft documentation for, and are counsel to, private equity and venture funds, hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, real estate funds, and the investors in these funds. We understand current market terms and have the securities, corporate, tax, and ERISA resources to provide a full range of solutions. We are particularly adept at working with first-time fund managers who are starting small (relatively) but who are setting in place the building blocks to grow into a full-service multi-fund family. At the end of a fund’s lifecycle we also advise managers, investors, and portfolio companies in connection with wind-up and liquidation.

As a team, we bridge the gap between securities regulatory law—which is often technical, (arguably) boring, and difficult to navigate—and the needs of our clients, which vary significantly and often call for a savvy application of existing regulations.

Fortunately, we’re just as strong in the creative application of the securities laws as we are in ensuring compliance with them, and we pride ourselves on finding ways for our clients to get deals done within the existing regulatory framework.

We also help investors deploy capital. On any given day the members of our private capital team may be representing an individual investor providing an early-stage company with bridge financing; reviewing a private placement memorandum or negotiating the terms of a private investment in an operating company; or conducting legal due diligence on behalf of an institutional investor in connection with a multi-million dollar investment in a private equity fund or hedge fund. If you’re a private investor looking to make a direct investment into an early-stage company, a mature operating company, or a private investment fund, we can leverage our insight and expertise to help you.

Our private capital group is part of one of the most sophisticated securities practice groups within the region, and does a lot of work in this space. Through this experience, we have become highly attuned to how much it costs and how long it takes for a company to complete a wide array of private capital transactions—and we’ve felt a responsibility to make things a bit easier on our clients. Consequently, we offer fixed-fee and fee-cap alternatives for clients who are looking for more predictable legal fees.