The following is an excerpt from Practice Perspectives: Vault's Guide to Legal Practice Areas.
Jennifer E. Crystal is a partner in Proskauer’s corporate department and a member of the private funds group.
Her practice focuses on representing private fund sponsors across asset classes, including credit, venture, and private equity. She advises on a wide range of matters, including fund formation and fundraising, firm operations, internal structuring, and regulatory compliance.
Prior to joining Proskauer, Jen was partner and general counsel at the technology-focused venture capital firm WndrCo and previously was the lead lawyer for the PineBridge Investments’ U.S. alternatives platform.
Jen earned her J.D. and LL.M. from Duke University School of Law after receiving a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Describe your practice area and what it entails.
My practice area is private investment funds, and I represent venture capital and other private fund sponsors on a wide range of matters, including fund formation and fundraising, firm operations, internal structuring, and regulatory compliance. The private investment funds group at Proskauer is the leading practice of its kind in the marketplace. We have market-leading capabilities in fund structuring and operations for closed-ended funds in a wide range of asset classes including venture and growth, private equity, buyout, credit, secondaries, and real assets. Our client types span a vast array of areas and industries and include global institutions, mid-market and large buyout houses, boutique industry-specific sponsors, funds of funds, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and new managers.
What types of clients do you represent?
We represent a broad range of leading private fund sponsors across asset class, industries, sectors, and geographic locations. My client representation is focused on venture capital and credit fund managers, drawing on my prior in-house experience as general counsel at a technology-focused venture capital firm and as the lead lawyer for the U.S. alternatives platform at a large multistrategy asset management firm with a large private credit platform.
What types of cases/deals do you work on?
Our group represents a diverse client base, giving us insight into fundraising trends globally and across asset classes. I work with large institutional asset managers on multibillion dollar fundraisings as well as emerging managers with strong track records or breakout strategies looking to launch a first fund. I also represent sponsors in joint ventures with other sponsors or financing sources.
How did you choose this practice area?
I started my career as an M&A attorney and began to focus more on private funds after several years of practice. I enjoy transactional work and am drawn to the collaborative, completion-oriented nature of fundraising and fund operations. Our practice is very strategic. We have the opportunity to leverage our expertise to advise our clients on the formation of fund vehicles that will support their businesses and cement their relationships with limited partners for years to come.
What is a “typical” day like and/or what are some common tasks you perform?
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.
What training, classes, experience, or skills development would you recommend to someone who wishes to enter your practice area?
I think the best training is in a law firm or in-house environment—get an internship, ask for shadowing opportunities, and really dig in and try to understand the practice. If you are interested in venture capital, talk to investors and entrepreneurs and get an understanding of their business. I also think it is very helpful for law school students to take a few finance and accounting classes. Our clients are investors, and understanding how they approach their investments and how the economics work their way through the structures of a private fund will give you a strong foundation to build on as you develop your career.
What do you like best about your practice area?
Our clients are executing incredibly interesting investment strategies, and we get to see them all. Private funds is a vast practice area, and in partnering with my clients, I have the opportunity to really learn about their businesses and the types of investments they are pursuing: AI, software, clean energy, etc. We work alongside our clients to help them scale their businesses and advise them as they consider how best to position themselves for long-term success.
What is unique about your practice area at your firm?
The Proskauer private funds group has unparalleled strength and depth in fund formation, fund transactions, and fund financing. This triple strength, along with our industry and sector focus, distinguishes us from other private fund practice areas. It allows our junior lawyers insight into a dynamic practice and provides them with broad exposure to the private funds landscape.
What are some typical tasks that a junior lawyer would perform in this practice area?
Junior lawyers have the opportunity to take ownership over the process management behind fund formation, learning the ins and outs of the many steps to get from structuring conversations to closing. Our junior lawyers also prepare ancillary documents and assist with initial drafts of some of the key fundraising agreements, including side letters. These tasks are the building blocks for understanding how the various documents work together and how the fund sponsors interact with their investor base, positioning our junior associates for success as they move into more-senior roles on the team.
What are some typical career paths for lawyers in this practice area?
The private funds practice has grown tremendously in the past 20 years. Not only in terms of the breadth of industry and sector coverage but also in terms of the sophistication of fundraising and private funds transactions. I have had the opportunity to practice in-house at a large multistrategy asset manager and as general counsel at a technology-focused venture firm and a partner at Proskauer. I have colleagues who have transitioned to the business or operations side of the practice area as well as those who have pursued investor relations roles at private fund managers.