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Do I use a Utah lawyer or a Silicon Valley lawyer?
I attended a Utah Fund of Funds event on Tuesday at the Provo Library. The presenter was Karl Israelsen from Stoel Rive’s Corporate Group where he practices securities and corporate law. Karl did a good job of dissecting VC term sheets and the associated twists and turns. As the time was coming to a close I had an off topic question that I just had to ask:
“Karl, I’ve been told that there are no Utah lawyers who have a good enough background to really know what they are doing on these terms sheets. Do you think Utah entrepreneurs should go to Silicon Valley and get legal help or is there anyone good enough in Utah to do these deals.”
To my surprise, he seemed to agree with what I had been told. He indicated that he thought there were as little as 10 lawyers in the whole state (if there is one thing Utah has a lot of its lawyers) who are experienced enough to help entrepreneurs work through a VC term sheet. So its not as cut and paste as many people may think it is.
One name that came up as a lawyer in Utah who knows his stuff was Mark Bonham. Mark used to run the Wilson Sonsini office in Salt Lake - he’s now at Ray Quinney & Nebeker. I met Mark at a Funding Universe speed pitch event about six months ago (we sat at the same table and listened to some great pitches) and he seems like a great guy.
On a side note, one rule of thumb I use is what I call “the 10 year rule”. That is, don’t use any professional - lawyer, accountant, dentist, whatever - unless they have at least 10 years of experience in their field of practice.
Have a nice weekend.
Chris, my experience is exactly what you say.
I’ve talked about it before. Utah doesn’t need to be California. It’s a $250 2 hour flight away, and the weather is always nice there. Go to where the experts are.
Left by Jeremy on 11/16/2007I guess I should clarify… Although I think there probably are about 10 lawyers in Utah who do VC work enough to really be what I would consider “expert” at it, that, in my opinion, is plenty to save any entrepreneur from having to go to Silicon Valley (and paying twice the legal fees).
Left by Karl Israelsen on 12/04/2007