Startup Legal Tips & Startup Laws Every Founder Should Know

Legal decisions made early can save a founder real money and real headaches later. This library covers the startup legal basics every NYU founder should know, from term sheets and company structure to trademark protection and funding documents, along with a list of law firms that work with early-stage startups.

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Legal Resources
Anatomy of a Term Sheet | Fenwick & West: Watch this Startup School workshop on "The Anatomy of a Term Sheet" led by lawyers at Fenwick & West.
Company Structures Cheat Sheet: This glossary is the first in a three-part series to help understand company structures.
Legal Documents For Your Startup: A list of common legal issues facing start-ups and sample legal documents to review and download.
Model Legal Documents: NVCA offers free Model Legal Documents for Voting Agreement, Term Sheet, Stock Purchase Agreement, etc. Each document is intended to serve as a starting point only and should be tailored to meet your specific requirements.
Open Source Funding Documents | Cooley: Cooley LLP has open sourced the legal documents required to do a Series Seed or Convertible Note financing.
Quick Reference Guide to Trademark Protection for Startups: View or download Cooley LLP's Quick Reference Guide to Trademark Protection for Startups and Early-Stage Companies.
Startup Lawyer: Startup Lawyer is a website for participants of the startup ecosystem. Articles are generally legal in nature but topics may include issues and current events as they relate to the startup ecosystem. Features will be added on a rolling basis.
Term Sheets | McCarter & English: The goal of this pamphlet is to give readers the ability to better evaluate these documents themselves by introducing them to the standard terms in an early-stage equity financing.
The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law takes you through the various stages of starting a business--from start-up and growth to an initial public offering--while highlighting the legal preparations and pitfalls that go along with them.
Recommended Firms
Brown Rudnick: Ask us for an intro!
Fenwick & West: Ask us for an intro!
Lowenstein Sandler: Lowenstein Sandler is a national law firm with over 350 lawyers working from five offices in New York, Palo Alto, New Jersey, Utah and Washington, D.C. They represent clients in virtually every sector of the global economy, with particular strength in the areas of technology, life sciences, and the financial management and fund industries that fuel economic growth.
Wiggin and Dana: Ask us for an intro!


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