Hi, my name is

Mick

I am an

Entrepreneur’s

Entrepreneurial

Lawyer

I’m a highly experienced corporate lawyer assisting entrepreneurs realize their dream.

Seeing an idea nurtured over time by true visionaries, who devote and risk everything they’ve got over many years, blossom into a successful enterprise never gets old. Truly, it’s a blast to help founders get to a successful closing, whether it is for a round of financing, an acquisition or the IPO. It’s something else to experience second-hand the founders’ pure joy and elation from seeing their vision and hard work finally validated and rewarded. That’s why I do what I do.

What Mick brings to the party

Street Cred

Former Partner of a 300-attorney law firm in New York
Nearly 30 years of high-level experience at big law firms
Worked on deals worth well over $10 billion in the aggregate, helping a countless number of start-ups and founders realize their goals
Served as Chairman of the Mergers & Acquisitions Practice Group and the Emerging Business Practice Group, as well as Co-Chair of the Legal Opinion Committee
Acted as “outside” General Counsel to, and served on the Board of Directors of multiple start-up companies

Solution-Driven Advisor

Mick offers:

a business-minded, pragmatic and consensus-building approach focusing on a risk-benefit analysis (as opposed to the typical “OMG, sky is falling” reaction on every little issue)
belief that it is your company and it’s ultimately your decision, so long as you are making a fully informed (and lawful) decision
recognition that risk is inherent in starting, growing and exiting a company, and cannot be eliminated, only mitigated
a level-playing field, with a caliber of representation that matches what venture capitalists and large acquiring companies bring to the table
efficiency and speed that only experience and knowledge can generate
breadth and depth of uniquely diverse practice to cover from A to Z for start-ups

Trusted Advisor

Mick is a lawyer who:

listens to you carefully and understands your business, goals, personal situation and fears
happily explains complex concepts to you in plain English
is very responsive to every communication from you or opposing counsel
gets along with just about any opposing counsel, which faciliates a collaborative, productive deal environment
is even-keeled and unflappable, but loves to express (faux) outrage where the situation calls for it
genuinely cares about you and your company, and will act with uncompromising integrity and ethics (even if it’s against your or his financial interest)
recognizes that the amount of legal fees matter to you . . . a lot
offers a risk-free fee arrangement for his clients that demonstrates his belief in your prospects and mission

Education

New York University School of Law, JD 1995

Trinity College, BA 1992

Word on the Street

Would recommend strongly

“Mick is an excellent M&A attorney who is a pleasure to work with. I have worked with Mick on several acquisitions that my company was pursuing and found him to be extremely competent, creative, efficient, and a pleasure to work with. I would recommend Mick strongly.” ~ Eamonn Hobbs, CEO, AngioDynamics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ANGO)

An integral business advisor

“I had the distinct pleasure of working with Mick for several years during my company’s start-up phase. He was an integral business advisor, connecting us with sources of capital, community resources, and local thought-leaders. Mick consistently took the time to understand our business, was an effective listener, and brought a distinctly entrepreneurial approach to working with us. I would highly recommend Mick” ~ Patrick Conway, CEO, BioAxxis Development Corporation 

One of the best

“Having worked on M&A transactions with lawyers from some of the top law firms in the country, Mick stands out as one of the best. Mick’s excellent communication skills, legal expertise and sense of humor allowed him to work well with our senior management team to ensure that the transaction was a success!” ~ Katherine Sheehan, General Counsel, Intermagnetic General Corporation (Nasdaq: IMGC); Mayor of Albany, NY (2014-)

A client centric attorney

“Mick is a client centric attorney. Steep with SEC experience, he helped Sensis Corporation in the structuring of several deals in anticipation of a public offering. Mick deftly applies sound legal opinions to knotty business problems” ~ Larry Harris, Senior VP and Chief Financial Officer, Sensis Corp.

A sensible, risk-appropriate approach

“Mick is awesome! He’s a real person, with an endearing sense of humour and a human approach to law. What I truly value most is his ability to explain things in plain English, offering reasoned advice about my options. While other lawyers made molehills into mountains, he has a sensible, risk-appropriate approach, underpinned by extensive experience and expertise.” ~ Robin Donaldson, Founder and CTO, Ecree and Entrepreneur

Embodiment of a personal service

“How often it happens that you like your attorney? Well, work with Mick and you will. Personality, competence, effectiveness, creativity – Mick has all these to a remarkable degree. He is an embodiment of a PERSONAL service. Very highly recommended.” ~ Marek Podgorny, CEO, CollabWorx, Inc.

Talent to bring clarity and confidence

“Where many attorneys seek to impress you with their grasp of legal matters, leaving the client more confused than anything, Mick has a talent for bringing clarity to the situation and providing confidence to his clients. Not to mention he’s funny as hell too!!” ~ David Oddy, President, Odyssey Software, LLC

Responsive and genuine concern for us

“Mick has been instrumental in the structural development of our company. In addition to general legal advice, he has been able to provide the specialized expertise that is essential to our arena of business. We are impressed with his responsiveness and genuine concern for our best interest.” – M. Stevenson, CEO, Strategy Aero Group, Inc.

Makes complex issues understandable

“When I founded Webucator, I wanted to make sure we did everything legally. Mick has always been extremely responsive and has been terrific at making complex issues understandable and in helping us figure out both the business and legal impact of our strategic decisions. He has been a great asset to our company.” ~ Nat Dunn, President, Webucator, Inc.

Sees around corners

“As a start-up medical device developer seeking an initial round of investment, our company required the preparation of corporate formation documents and a private placement memorandum to support the fundraising effort. Mick’s uncanny ability to “see around corners” allowed us to avoid the pitfalls around which many start-up ventures are not able to navigate. Mick’s thoroughness and his ability to communicate in a straightforward, unambiguous way has saved us significant time and expense due to potential re-work.” – David Boger, Co-Founder, Transluminal Technologies, LLC

Mad Skills

The Birth

Mick has formed a countless number of start-ups. He helps founders decide the form and jurisdiction of entity, formation of the company, the preparation of the certificate of the incorporation or bylaws, the appointment of a registered agent, the optimal capital structure and cap table, equity issuance, Section 83(b) elections, Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) compliance, Section 1202 QSBC consideration, buy-sell agreement among the founders, and more.

The Raise

Mick assists start-ups with fund raising. From angels to VC firms, and every type of investor in the middle, Mick will assist in the structuring of the investment and drafting of offering documents. Leveraging his securities law background, he ensures compliance with applicable Federal and state private placement requirements. He will negotiate the terms and conditions of the investment documents.

The Grind

Mick advises corporations on day-to-day business law issues, such as board fiduciary duty, corporate governance, NDAs, stockholder disputes, employment agreements, equity incentive plans, non-competition agreements and IP matters. Mick also reviews and negotiates commercial contracts of all types, including distribution, manufacturing, supply and reseller agreements; equipment lease agreements; joint development agreements; and software-as-a-service (SaaS) agreements

The Homerun

For the vast majority of start-ups, the most prevalent form of exit is an acquisition instead of an IPO. Mick will help you review and negotiate the letter of intent, guide you in hiring an investment advisor (where appropriate), negotiate all of the transaction agreements and their terms, handle the closing, and see you win.

The Process

1. Getting Started

Interested in getting this process started? Please download, fill out and submit the Intake Form. Mick gets asked this a lot, but all attorneys are bound by a strict requirement for confidentiality under the professional code of ethics (yes, there is such a thing for lawyers, believe or not), whether you ultimately engage us or not. Anything you disclose during our initial consultation is protected. As a result, lawyers typically do not sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) before the initial consultation (or any time thereafter). However, if you really feel paranoid, Mick will make an exception for you.

2. Wait (a little)

Usually, we can get back to you in one to two weeks, often with a follow up request for information. We have to evaluate whether your company has a good prospect, as well as whether you and your team are the type of people we would enjoy working with. Because of a fee arrangement that is extremely risky to us, as well as our other time commitments, we cannot take on most of the opportunities presented to me.

3. Meet and Greet

Once we decide to go forward, we can meet via Zoom to see if there’s a fit. We will also discuss our fee arrangement.

4. Decision day

If we mutually decide that Mick’s representation of your company makes sense, you will need to sign an engagement letter with Mick and drop a small retainer, if that’s what you decide.

5. Let’s get this party started

If all go well, we sing kumbaya and start kicking butt together.

Take the next step

Get Intake Form

The Fees

The Basic Fee arrangement usually consists of the following:

a modest cash retainer to demonstrate your seriousness and commitment to us (this can be waived at our discretion)
legal fees accrued at a substantial discount off the regular hourly billable rate (which is already a fraction of what large law firms charge for an attorney of comparable experience and skill level)
All fees are deferred until the next successful round of fund raising of any kind. The entire outstanding amount will be paid out of the closing proceeds. All accrued but unpaid fees will be subject to interest charge from the date of invoice. If your company fails, the founders will have no personal liability for the fees
In consideration of the fee discount, deferred payment and financial risk, you will grant a resaonable equity award under an equity incentive plan, the amount to be determined by mutual agreement
upon a successful round, exit by an acquisition or the IPO, in addition to our regular fees, we may receive a reasonable success fee and/or premium to be negotiated and mutually acceptable ahead of time
the specific deal between us will be set forth in the engagement letter in great detail, and all arrangement must comply with all applicable ethical rules. No exceptions.