San Francisco Startup Attorneys & Lawyers

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Brig R.

Brig Ricks

58 reviews
I am a senior executive and strategic legal adviser with 19 years of experience providing legal services in international environments. I am a general counsel who can advis... read more
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Rhea D.

Rhea De Aenlle

54 reviews
Rhea de Aenlle is a business-savvy attorney with extensive experience in Privacy & Data Security (CIPP/US, CIPP/E), GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, FERPA, Intellectual Property, and... read more
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Mark F.

Mark Foster

9 reviews
I started my Law Firm in 1988. I've been Outside General Counsel to numerous disruptive startups in high-tech, medical device, finance. I've led legal departments for multi... read more
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Michael M.

Michael Mowery

6 reviews
I have lived and understand your opportunities and challenges. As a global corporate legal executive and social sector entrepreneur, I’ve partnered with a broad range of bu... read more
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Monica W.

Monica Winghart

5 reviews
Monica is the founder of Voltage Law and specializes in working with tech, SaaS, consumer products and healthcare industries. Throughout her career, Monica has held leaders... read more
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Joshua G.

Joshua Garber

285 reviews
Representing notable clients like Tesla and the City of Los Angeles, Josh Garber excels at helping clients with employment and labor laws. Many of his past clients have had great success using Josh for employment agreements and Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) hearings. With his practical advice, he has even helped clients avoid going to court.
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Jesko O.

Jesko Onken

50 reviews
Licensed in California and Germany, Jesko Onken offers cost-effective legal advice to small and midsize companies. A speaker of German, French, and Italian, Mr. Onken provides services in business law and international legal management. He specializes in entity formation, business contracts, corporate compliance, immigration, licensing, and securities.
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Drew S.

Drew Sanchez

11 reviews
Drew Sanchez has more than six years of experience as a corporate attorney. He primarily specializes in business formation, business operations, employment law and commercial contracts. Drew obtained his Juris Doctor degree in 2010, after he graduated from the Santa Clara University School of Law. He has been licensed to practice law in California. Drew has been a sole practitioner since 2011. Prior to this position, Drew was an independent counselor at The 42nd Group.
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Greg D.

Greg Demirchyan

9 reviews
I represent emerging and established companies in various industries including software, IT services, e-commerce, and finance. I advise clients on a broad range of business... read more
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Thomas E.

Thomas Earnest

6 reviews
Thomas is a partner at Matterhorn Legal, where his practice focuses on corporate and transactional matters. Thomas regularly advises clients on a number of corporate matter... read more
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San Francisco Startup Lawyers

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Based on 934 reviews
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Legal Tips and Information

 


 

Starting Up Your Game Changing Company in San Francisco

 

The Basics

Known for the Golden Gate Bridge, 60’s peace movements and the 49ers, the world class city of San Francisco is also known as the home to some of the hottest startups in the country.  As any good businessperson will tell you, your new business needs a startup lawyer as sharp as your enterprise.  A small business law firm will focus on technical legal requirements needed to successfully form your business enterprise while you focus on conquering the world. 

When you search for the best law firm for startups in the City by the Bay, focus your search looking for a practice that has a new business lawyer that understands all those local, state and federal requirements that need attention.  We can’t focus on everything, and as a startup founder you want to have your eyes on making your business model a success while your business law firm handles all those details ensure your success is protected. 

If your company has an idea, technology or device that needs to be protected by a patent, you don’t want to go it alone.  Dealing with the patent process is best left to a high caliber ip lawyer from the bay area.  These attorneys know the ins and outs of the complicated patent process and will make sure that the process goes smoothly from start to finish.   Prices for a specialty business lawyer in San Francisco will vary, but an investment in a lawyer that will protect your rights in patent, copyrights and trademarks is an investment in the future success of amazing, game changing San Francisco based startup company.

 

The Money

So you’re on your way to startup success in The City.  Unless you’ve been blessed with wealth or have an unnatural desire to take out even more debt on your credit cards, what you need now is an investment source.  Venture capitalists, angel investors, everyday folks who will go and fund you- all great sources of business capital.  The question is, how do you make it work?

Like developing your idea, the gathering of your financial resources is a process.  As you through that process of gathering those precious financial resources, it’s important to decide what you intend to do with them.  Will your investors be simply that and expect only a return on their investment? Or will your financial backers be stakeholders that become your partners at some level?  All of these questions can be answered with the help of business attorney from San Francisco.  A business law firm is just that- a place where business lawyers in San Francisco focus on, you guessed it – setting up and managing your business.  Your partner in financial success, your business law firm will help guide your fundraising process and help you avoid the catastrophic missteps and pitfalls that can be associated with accepting someone else’s money.

By now you’ve figured out that whatever it is that your startup does, it’s important.  It’s just as important to decide how your financing will be structured and what that financing will mean to your operations.  Your new business lawyer will help you decide how to best structure your capital to ensure that you find success and that your financial backers get exactly what they bargained for when they gave you that big (or little) check.

 

Achieving Success

We all go into business knowing that what we want to do will be important and change the world, even if it’s just one little piece.  You’ve crafted your idea, found your investors and are well on your way.  Now what?

Now you want to make sure that your new business is poised to take you where you want to go.  Do you plan to hire new employees? Offer profit sharing? Sell to that giant world-wide competitor?  In order to help make these decisions, it’s important to consult your legal expert.

Time to turn back to that top notch business lawyer in San Francisco that you’ve been working with (you have been working with her, right?) If you haven’t, no better time than now to find a business law firm that can structure your startup for success in the long term.  Just as you’ve taken the time to develop your idea, brand and message, you need to develop your plans for future success. 

A business attorney in San Francisco will have the information and tools you need to make the smart decisions that will support your goals.  You don’t want your startup to derailed because you didn’t really understand the difference between an exempt and non-exempt employee for purposes of overtime, or find out the hard way that the person you thought was a 1099 independent contractor is really your employee.  Maybe you’ve decided it’s time to pay off those investors a little early, or that business investor that wanted that management role has become a little too involved.  These situations are common in all businesses but especially in startups.  Engaging a startup lawyer in San Francisco that knows the City, understands your business and knows the rules of legal road will help keep your startup on the path to long term success. 

 

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Legal Services Offered by Our On-Demand San Francisco Startup Attorneys

On UpCounsel, you can find and connect with top-rated San Francisco startup attorneys & lawyers that provide a range of startup law services for startups and entrepreneurs that are starting a business. Any of the top-rated San Francisco startup lawyers you connect with will be available to help with a variety of your startup law related legal needs on-demand or on an ongoing basis in the city of San Francisco, CA.

From primarily dealing with things like business formation, contracts, leases, equity financing, securities, and intellectual property protection, the San Francisco startup lawyers on UpCounsel can help you with a variety of specialized and general startup law related legal matters. No matter what type of startup law needs you have, you can easily hire an experienced San Francisco startup lawyer on UpCounsel to help you today.

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Improve Your Legal ROI with Affordable Startup Attorneys that service San Francisco, CA.

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"UpCounsel gives me access to big-firm lawyers minus the big-firm price tag. I work with several attorneys on the platform and there are never surprises...I always receive quality legal work at competitive rates that larger firms simply cannot match."

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"Every startup needs to know about UpCounsel. We found great attorneys at great prices and were able to focus our resources on improving our business instead of paying legal bills."

Sean Conway
Co-founder & CEO

"Before UpCounsel it was hard for us to find the right lawyer with the right expertise for our business. UpCounsel solves those problems by being more affordable and helping us find the right lawyer in no time."

Tristan Pollock
Co-founder & COO

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