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In Vault's Practice Area Resource Centers, among other things, we highlight Q&As from various attorneys employed at law firms who have ranked for prestige in the relevant practice area. In this series, we will highlight some answers from attorneys at ranked firms regarding what their typical day is like working in a given practice area. Today, we feature some answers from our Emerging Companies & Venture Capital Practice Area Resource Center.
Jason Goldfarb & Giselle Rivers, Partners, Goodwin:
“Giselle: One of the most invigorating aspects of collaborating with entrepreneurs is that every day is completely different. Working with numerous companies across a variety of stages and industries means advising clients on a wide range of legal issues with varying levels of urgency and complexity. Some days are spent in board meetings, some reviewing and negotiating deal documents, and some on back-to-back calls. Every day has surprises. I am often the first call when an issue arises for a client. Some issues require a technical legal answer, and other times, the client just needs practical advice or a thought partner to talk through an issue. Most days I am also meeting with potential new clients and with my team focused on recruiting, training, and mentoring. Needless to say, the job is never boring or routine.
Jason: No day is the same, which is part of what I enjoy most about this practice area. I spend a lot of time on calls with clients working through questions and challenges, discussing legal as well as business issues. On any given day, I could be drafting or negotiating an agreement for a founder of a newly formed startup, a venture capital financing for a late-stage private company, or an SEC reporting document for a public company.”
Aria Kashefi, Partner, Orrick: “There is no typical day, which is what makes this practice both interesting and, at times, stressful. Some days I start with a list of two or three things that I want to accomplish, and by the end of the day, I will have accomplished one or none of them!
However, in terms of routines, I start the morning by reading emails I received overnight (since I work with clients and colleagues across many different time zones). I then prioritize my to-do list based on client needs. I delegate what I can to more-junior associates and paralegals—this helps them gain experience, keeps costs as low as possible for clients, and allows me to service more client requests. I then do the drafting work that I have reserved for myself, as well as reviewing the work product that I had previously delegated. This all happens in between calls with clients, opposing counsel on the various deals I work on at any one time, and colleagues, as well as responding to incoming emails throughout the day as much as possible.”
Trey Chenier, Counsel, Perkins Coie: “At a high level, my typical day consists of negotiating deal documents for several financing transactions and managing the team to move the other pieces of transactions forward while advising clients on legal issues that could include intellectual property (IP), employment, tax, or corporate governance matters. For financings, I might be reviewing, drafting, or negotiating financing documents, creating a pro forma capitalization table model, or overseeing closing logistics. Otherwise, I am helping clients solve various issues or serving in a general counsel role for the client’s company through activities such as attending a board meeting and taking minutes, preparing a separation agreement for a terminated employee, administering employee equity, and negotiating commercial contracts.”
Jennifer E. Crystal, Partner, Proskauer: “There is no typical day! Every day is different, and that is part of what makes this work so interesting. Working with multiple clients at various points in their fundraising activities means juggling structuring conversations, strategic planning sessions regarding platform growth or strategy expansion, investor negotiations, drafting, and working closely with my teams to get everything done.”
Will Black, Partner & Serena Ward, Associate, Fenwick:
“Will: It can vary quite a bit. As a partner, I spend a lot of my time on the advisory side and less on the execution side. So most of what I do involves strategic meetings/conversations with my founders and executive teams covering things like transaction structuring, key negotiation levers, and attending board meetings.
Serena: Every day is different. Our role for some of our early-stage clients is that of in-house counsel, so we assist with whatever issue or question arises that day. For later-stage clients, we may be liaising with their in-house counsel, whether by providing substantive legal advice or lending them our institutional knowledge gained from working with those clients for years, oftentimes their entire lifecycle. The cadence of an ECVC practice differs greatly from other corporate practices where you may work with one or two clients for a period of time on large, discrete transactions—whereas we may be responding to one question for a client via email, and then transitioning to attending a board meeting for another.”
Hilary Adams, Partner & Kelvin Chan, Associate, Gunderson Dettmer:
“Hilary: A lot of our time is devoted to day-to-day operational matters, such as capitalization and equity issuances, employee matters, and corporate governance. Additionally, we have a technology transaction team that does all commercial agreements for our clients. Our tech team negotiates supplier agreements, vendor agreements, commercial services agreements, and other customer agreements that are essential for venture-backed companies to make money. Those supplier or vendor services agreements are how they generate revenue. Having a specialized tech team that understands the market and knows how to draft these agreements is crucial to ensure the company is protected.
Kelvin: On a typical day, I will spend time speaking with clients, reviewing and drafting agreements, and negotiating agreements with opposing counsel.”
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