Experience:

All attorneys at MLG must have a minimum number of years of experience (i.e., 5-8 years) to work here, and the majority have prior experience in BigLaw, international law firms, or BigTech in-house legal departments before joining MLG. As a result, you are working with lawyers who are pre-vetted and trained, not junior associates.

Clientele Industries:

Most of our startup clients are enterprise SaaS/PaaS technologies, with a heavy emphasis on AI technologies. The SMEs we serve may be industry-adjacent firms (i.e., CFO firms, early-stage venture firms, HR consulting firms, or other companies that are in the startup ecosystem), or private-equity funded, middle-market businesses.

Representative Transactions:

• SAFE note or priced round raises for early stage (Seed through Series B) startups, including bridge/extension rounds.

• Buy-side or sell-side acquisitions, including asset sales plus acquihires or entity acquisitions, including due diligence and any novations of existing customer contracts;

• Flips from abroad entity structures to a DE C Corp structure for the purposes of procuring American venture capital, and the related priced round;

• Corporate restructuring in order to achieve tax optimization, in preparation for a raise or sale, or in connection with a cofounder exits/business divorce;

• General corporate due diligence and clean up in preparation for a raise or sale, including due diligence and clean up related to stock grants, IP assignments, commercial contracts, etc.;

• Commercial/technology transactions (i.e., MSAs, Vendor Agreements, SaaS/PaaS Licensing Agreements, etc.);

• IP sales/spinouts, particularly transferring IP out of consulting businesses into a C Corp structure for QSBS or venture capital fundraising purposes; and

• Privacy and product counseling related to product launches and pivots.

Staffing and Onboarding Process:

The Managing Attorney, Lindsey S. Mignano, oversees all matters at the firm, which are often staffed with one or two Senior Counsel, and possibly a more junior Counsel as needed. We often have the more junior Counsel handle items typically outsourced to paralegals at BigLaw, and that rate here is still often lower than the typical corporate paralegal rate in BigLaw.

We have an Office Manager who assists with basic secretarial items (i.e., document generation, signature procurement) on an as-needed basis, and utilizing LegalTech and AI technologies in order to do so.

In order to be a client, we require a signed fee agreement and minimum entry level retainer as explained in our FAQ Section here. As an entirely virtual law firm, all meetings are virtual, all documents are executed and stored electronically, and all payments are made online via wire or credit card through our third-party payment processor, Clio.

Why Us:

Approximately 3-4% of equity partners in BigLaw are women of color. Very few SmallLaw corporate law firms in the venture and startup space are founded by women of color — so few, in fact, there is no statistical data available.

Here at MLG, our founder’s unique perspective as a woman of color means MLG is a firm that ensures a broader range of perspectives, leading to more creative problem-solving and higher-quality legal strategies for a global client base. Diversity at the top also fosters a more equitable internal culture, attracting top-tier, diverse talent.

Admittedly, there are great law firms everywhere. One thing that sets our firm apart is that we believe this work can be done well by experienced attorneys, and with an emphasis on diversity.