“Equity LLP” has been created by the law firm of Britton, Silberman & Cervantez LLP from the Bay Area for startups. The program will offer startups “start to finish legal representation” so entrepreneurs do not have to pay high legal fees each month, according to Venture Beat.
For the past couple of years, one of the firm’s partners, Gil Silberman, has been campaigning that the firm pay attention to startups. “We were among the first lawyers to take the new Internet companies seriously, set up shop in South Park (a district in South San Francisco), and participate in the dotcom revolution,” he said. In the early days of LinkedIn, Silberman worked with the company. He also represented Craigslist prior to it becoming a company.
Silberman says that his background in the technology world puts his law firm at an advantage over some of the more established law firms out there today. “It helps me be very efficient and automate processes,” he said. “If an investor asks for a cap table or wants stock, there is no reason why a lawyer should have to open a dusty file cabinet.”
The applications for the first class of Equity LLP are still being accepted by the firm since the firm said it will not run until January. The program was modeled after other accelerator programs, such as TechStars and Y Combinator.
The law firm is planning to take just a small slice of the startups, with a goal of about two percent, which is below what Y Combinator takes at six percent. Equity LLP has been designed to be a program that stands alone and is for entrepreneurs who have already graduated from a traditional accelerator.
The first class for Equity LLP will be given the full range of legal representation and the target of the program is early-stage startups.
“For entrepreneurs, we are trying to find a way to reduce the cost and risk up-front,” Silberman explained.