Emerging Growth Companies

We represent entrepreneurs and startup companies in numerous industries, as well as the venture capital firms and investors that finance them.

Full Range of Legal Service

Hopkins & Carley is a leading business law firm with more than 50 years of experience working with Silicon Valley companies.  We advise emerging growth companies through the full life cycle of their business. We often act as outside general counsel, providing a single point of contact who can efficiently manage the legal needs of rapidly growing businesses.  We also advise a number of angel investors and venture funds.

Our advice and counsel covers a broad range of matters, including:

  • Entity selection, formation and governance
  • Employee equity plus other compensation and benefits matters
  • Employment law counseling and dispute resolution
  • Debt and equity financing transactions from angel, venture, strategic investors, and commercial lenders
  • Intellectual property advice, protection, and litigation
  • International expansion
  • Commercialization of technology and IP assets
  • Mergers, acquisitions, asset sales and dispositions
  • Outside general counsel services, which provide strategic day-to-day advice and guidance throughout a company’s life cycle
  • Privacy and data security matters
  • Real estate matters
  • Trademarks and branding strategy counseling
  • Transactional tax matters
  • Wealth planning
  • Outside general counsel to a drone security company, advising company from formation to funding of more than $24M.
  • Represented web security company in sale to a public company for $80M.
  • Represented social platform in $15M secured debt restructuring.
  • Represented personal mobility startup in raising more than $40 million in equity through three separate financings.
  • Representation of numerous technology startups from formation through seed funding and beyond.
  • Representation of various venture funds investing in technology startups.
  • Advise international emerging growth companies entering the U.S. market.

Uber Driver—Independent Contractor or Employee? One Labor Commissioner Hearing Officer's Opinion

A hearing officer for the Labor Commissioner's local office in San Francisco concluded earlier this month that an Uber driver was an employee of Uber, not an independent contractor. Read more »

Two Good Reasons to Keep Your Company's Job Descriptions Current and Accurate

Job descriptions often fall to the bottom of the human resource "to do" list. An audit of almost any company's job descriptions will reveal job descriptions that are outdated, vague and carried forwar... Read more »

Lessons for Employers from the Pao Trial

On March 27, 2015, a San Francisco jury returned a verdict in favor of venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers in the highly publicized trial of sex discrimination and retaliation claim... Read more »

Proposed Regulation Crowdfunding: Highs and Lows

The Securities and Exchange Commission released proposed Regulation Crowdfunding, the long-awaited JOBS Act rules designed to help small companies raise capital from the general public. Read more »

10 Tips For Angel Investors

Recently, we have assisted several first-time angels with screening companies and negotiating the terms of investments. Read more »

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