Building a company is one of the hardest things a person can do. The legal challenges you face change at every stageāand so does what you need from your attorneys. At Massey Bean & Lewis, our corporate and venture law team is built to be a true partner through all of it: early decisions that set the foundation, the transactions that fuel growth, and the exits that reward years of work.
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Our attorneys bring experience from the Am Law 100 firms that defined the venture capital and private equity markets. But we practice at a firm built to be genuinely accessible, personally invested, and relentlessly focused on your outcome. Weāve helped clients create more than a billion dollars in economic value. Weāve closed hundreds of financing transactions. And weāve done it with clients ranging from two founders and a term sheet to mature companies preparing for a strategic acquisition.
/ Our Approach
Legal counsel built around where you areāand where youāre going.
Most legal questions donāt come with clear answersāthey come with tradeoffs. The right deal structure and considerations for a seed-stage company may not be right for a Series B company, and the strategies that matter in an M&A negotiation are different from the ones that mattered at formation. Thatās why our corporate attorneys donāt hand you a template. They learn your business, understand your goals, and give you counsel you can actually use at every stage of the journey.
STAGE 01
The decisions you make at the beginning of a companyās life have a long tail. Choosing the wrong entity structure, issuing equity carelessly, or signing a term sheet without understanding its implications can create problems that are expensiveāsometimes impossibleāto fix later. Our attorneys have guided hundreds of founders through these early decisions, and we know what the downstream consequences look like.
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We serve as a practical, experienced sounding board from day oneāhelping you build a legal foundation that protects you now and supports the company youāre trying to become.
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What We Help With
- Entity formation and jurisdiction selection
- Founder agreements, equity splits, and vesting schedules
- Convertible notes, SAFEs, and early-stage financing structures
- Seed and pre-seed venture capital rounds
- Intellectual property assignment and ownership protection
- Employment agreements and offer letter templates
- Stock option plan design and 409A compliance
- Initial commercial agreements and customer contracts
- Co-founder disputes and early equity restructuring
Many of our attorneys serve as ongoing outside general counsel for their earliest-stage clientsāa relationship that means you have a trusted advisor in your corner before problems arise, not just when they do. We price our early-stage work to reflect the reality of building a company, and we invest in these relationships because we intend to grow alongside you.
STAGE 02
Growth is exciting. Itās also when legal complexity compounds fastest. As your company scalesāadding team members, closing bigger rounds, entering new markets, negotiating more significant commercial relationshipsāthe legal decisions carry higher stakes and require more sophisticated counsel. This is the stage where having the right firm on your side makes a measurable difference.
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Our team has deep experience in the full range of transactions and structures that define a companyās growth years. Weāve represented companies raising Series A through late-stage rounds, advised on complex employment and equity matters as teams grow, and helped clients navigate the commercial relationships that define market position.
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What We Help With
- Series A, B, and later-stage venture capital financings
- Growth equity and private equity investment transactions
- Debt financing, venture debt, and mezzanine credit facilities
- Strategic licensing and collaboration agreements
- Executive employment, compensation, and equity structuring
- Commercial contract negotiation and customer agreements
- Secondary transactions and tender offers
- Corporate governance and board advisory matters
- Data privacy compliance (GDPR, CCPA, CPRA, and related regimes)
- International expansion and cross-border structuring
At this stage, the quality of your legal team becomes visible to your investors, your counterparties, and ultimately your acquirers. We bring the rigor and sophistication of a major firm while remaining accessible, responsive, and focused on moving your business forwardānot generating billable hours.
STAGE 03
Whether youāre preparing for a strategic acquisition, managing a complex portfolio, or operating as a mature private company with sophisticated legal needs, MBLās corporate team has the experience to serve as a true partner at this level. We understand what buyers, sellers, and investors are looking atābecause our attorneys have sat on all sides of these transactions.
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We also represent venture capital and private equity funds directly, advising on portfolio company investments and representation during exits. And for private companies that have chosen to remain independent, we provide the kind of ongoing corporate counsel that keeps governance clean, equity structures defensible, and the business protected.
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What We Help With
- Mergers, acquisitions, and strategic transactions (buy-side and sell-side)
- Sale process preparation and due diligence management
- Representations, warranties, and indemnification negotiation
- Earnouts, rollovers, and management equity in acquisitions
- Recapitalizations and complex equity restructurings
- Venture capital portfolio company investment and transaction advisory
- Succession planning and ownership transitions
- General corporate governance for established private companies
The clients we represent at this stage have typically been with us for years. We know their history, their cap table, their key relationships, and their goals. That context is not something you can replicate by hiring a firm cold at the moment a transaction beginsāand itās one of the reasons our clients tell us the relationship is one of their most valuable business assets.
Deep experience across the sectors building the future.
Our corporate team has represented companies and investors across a broad range of industries. We understand the commercial dynamics, regulatory considerations, and investor expectations that shape legal strategy in each.
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Technology & Software
From SaaS platforms and enterprise software to consumer applications, weāve advised technology companies at every stage. We understand software licensing, API agreements, data ownership, and the structures that technology investors expect.
Life Sciences, Biotech & Medical Devices
Life sciences companies face a distinct set of legal challenges around IP protection, regulatory strategy, clinical partnerships, and capital structuring. Our attorneys have deep experience working with biotech, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies from early research stage through commercialization.
FINTECH & DIGITAL ASSETS
Financial technology requires counsel that understands both the innovation and the regulatory environment surrounding it. Our team has advised fintech companies, digital asset platforms, and fund managers on structuring, compliance, and transaction matters across a rapidly evolving landscape.
CONSUMER PRODUCTS & E-COMMERCE
Consumer-facing companies operate at the intersection of brand, distribution, supply chain, and digital infrastructure. Weāve helped consumer companies structure licensing deals, negotiate retailer agreements, raise growth capital, and position themselves for acquisition.
HEALTHCARE & HEALTH IT
Healthcare companies require counsel who understands HIPAA, reimbursement structures, regulatory pathways, and the M&A dynamics of a sector that continues to consolidate. Our team has advised both healthcare operators and the technology companies serving them.
CLEANTECH & ENERGY
Cleantech companies often deal with complex IP, government incentives, project financing, and strategic partnership structures. We bring relevant transactional experience to this sector and understand the unique capital formation challenges these companies face.
Big-firm experience. But built for the way businesses actually works.
Our corporate attorneys trained at firms like Cooley, Wilson Sonsini, Kirkland & Ellis, and Latham & Watkinsāthe firms that set the standard for venture capital and corporate transactions. They chose to practice at MBL because they wanted to do the same quality of work with a different kind of relationship: one where they know their clients deeply, operate as genuine partners, and measure success by outcomes rather than hours.
That means you get a team that is senior, experienced, and genuinely invested in your resultāwithout the overhead, the staffing pyramid, or the sense that youāre a number in a larger portfolio. Our size is a feature, not a limitation.
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