Joint Venture Contract Lawyers for Buffalo, New York

I am a New York and Connecticut–licensed contracts attorney with over 25 years of legal and business experience. I focus on drafting, reviewing, and negotiating commercial agreements, advising small businesses and international brokerage firms — particularly in eCommerce acquisitions. My practice includes asset purchase agreements, master services agreements, operating agreements, employment agreements, and a broad range of commercial contracts, as well as merchant services defense, breach of contract matters and arbitration. I have served as General Counsel to small businesses, a Vice President at an investment bank, a Civil Court Arbitrator and Hearing Officer, and a Judicial Clerk to a Civil Court Judge. My combined legal and business background enables me to deliver practical, strategic counsel tailored to each client’s objectives.

Professional Experience Neil Belloff is an accomplished business lawyer with over 35 years of business and legal experience, including as Board Member, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Corporate Secretary. After law school, Neil joined a boutique law firm in New York City and practiced as a litigator and corporate securities lawyer. Soon thereafter, Neil became a Senior Attorney-Advisor in the Division of Corporation Finance at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. responsible for reviewing 1933 Act and 1934 Act documents, coordinating projects with the EPA and DOL, overseeing bankruptcy, reorganization and work-outs, responding to Congressional inquiries, and providing assistance to other SEC divisions and the Department of Justice. Following his tenure with the government, Neil practiced with several NY-based law firms providing legal and business services to public and private enterprises focusing on securities, corporate, employment, IP, licensing, M&A, finance, governance, litigation, compliance and privacy matters. Neil became an in-house attorney in 2003 joining Deutsche Telekom, one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world, as Executive Vice President and US Securities and Corporate Counsel. He joined Celgene Corporation, a publicly listed global biopharmaceutical company, in 2010 and became General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary of Eloxx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in 2018 (and Chief Operating Officer in 2020) and General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary of Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. in 2021. Neil went back to private practice in 2024. Neil has been lead counsel on dozens of IPOs (representing both issuers and underwriters) and multi-billion dollar M&A transactions. His practice includes licensing, structured finance, venture capital, risk assessment, corporate governance, legal and regulatory compliance, pharmaceutical development, and all aspects of corporate, securities, intellectual property, privacy and employment law. Education • J.D. - Quinnipiac University School of Law • LL.M. - Program in Securities Regulation at Georgetown University Law Center • M.A. - New York University • B.A. - Queens College of the City University of New York Admissions • New York, New Jersey, Connecticut • Southern District of New York • Eastern District of New York • District of Connecticut Publications • Frequent conference speaker (FEI, NACD, NIRI, ACC, PLI, MarcusEvans) • Co-authored chapter of NACD report on the Role of Directors in Strategic Planning, member of Blue Ribbon Commission of NACD • Authored various articles on securities, litigation and governance topics • Featured in Vanguard Law Magazine - https://www.vanguardlawmag.com/case-studies/neil-belloff-acorda-therapeutics/ Board Memberships • Former Board Member | Private computer network and software development company sold to NASDAQ listed company • Former Board Member | NASDAQ listed location-based entertainment company

Steven Stark has more than 35 years of experience in business and commercial law representing start-ups as well as large and small companies spanning a wide variety of industries. Steven has provided winning strategies, valuable advice, and highly effective counsel on legal issues in the areas of Business Entity Formation and Organization, Drafting Key Business Contracts, Trademark and Copyright Registration, Independent Contractor Relationships, and Website Compliance, including Terms and Privacy Policies. Steven has also served as General Counsel for companies providing software development, financial services, digital marketing, and eCommerce platforms. Steven’s tactical business and client focused approach to drafting contracts, polices and corporate documents results in favorable outcomes at a fraction of the typical legal cost to his clients. Steven received his Juris Doctor degree at New York Law School and his Bachelor of Business Administration degree at Hofstra University.

Nicole expertly and creatively works with businesses and individuals in all types of employment and business relations issues. She investigates workplace disputes as a neutral third party, drafts/reviews severance and hiring agreements, advises on day-to-day workplace issues, and reviews all kinds of business contracts. Nicole represents individuals, small businesses, non-profit organizations, labor unions, and benefits funds in various industries including public sector, entertainment, health care, education, transportation, construction, and communications. She has represented clients in federal and New York State courts, administrative proceedings, and arbitration hearings. Nicole is admitted to practice in New York.

Immigration expert with over 30 years’ experience focused on start-up companies H-1, L-1, E, O-1 visas. PERM and extraordinary ability immigrant visas. Complex family immigration cases and waivers. I also assist early stage comapnies in entity formation and general legal matters for start-up companies in the areas of Telehealth, Technology and International Trade.

P. McCoy Smith is the Founding Attorney at Lex Pan Law LLC, a full-service technology and intellectual property law firm based in Portland, Oregon, U.S.A and Opsequio LLC, an open source compliance consultancy. Prior to his current position, he spent 20 years in the legal department of a Fortune 50 multinational technology company as a business unit intellectual property specialist; among his duties was setting up the free & open source legal function and policies for that company. He preceded his in-house experience with 8 years in private practice in a large New York City-based boutique intellectual property law firm, working simultaneously as a U.S. patent litigator and U.S. patent prosecutor. He was also a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office prior to attending law school. He is licensed to practice law in Oregon, California & New York and to prosecute patent applications in the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office; he is also a registered Trademark and Patent Agent with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. He has degrees from Colorado State University (Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering, with honors), Johns Hopkins University (Masters of Liberal Arts) and the University of Virginia (Juris Doctor). While in private practice, and continuing into his in-house career, he taught portions of the U.S. patent bar exam for a long-standing and well-known patent bar exam preparation course, and from 2014-2020 was on the editorial board of the Journal of Open Law, Technology & Society (JOLTS), and starting in 2023 will be on the editorial board of the American Intellectual Property Law Quarterly Journal (AIPLAQJ). He is the author or co-author of chapters on open source and copyright and patents in “Open Source Law, Policy & Practice” (2022, Oxford University Press). He lectures frequently around the world on free and open source issues as well as other intellectual property topics.

Legal professional with 10+ years of Fortune 500 in-house and AmLaw 50 law firm experience in crafting multi-pronged litigation, regulatory, and public policy strategies and negotiating pioneering, high-stakes global cloud services and digital content distribution deals.

Motivated and self-starting Corporate and Commercial Counsel with over 12 years of experience in providing strategic legal solutions. Exceptional analytical and negotiation skills, focusing on Cyber Security, Finance, and Software. Proven track record of success in handling complex M&A matters. Expertly led negotiations and full five M&A transactions from start to finish (over $100M), resulting in successful integration including raising capital on Reg. A and Reg. D exemptions. Drafted, reviewed and negotiated commercial agreements including, Restructure Agreements Partnership Agreements, Asset Purchase Agreements, Stock Purchase Agreements, Restructure Agreements, Loan conversion Agreements, Debt Conversion Agreements. Provided business and capital strategy, such as restructuring of companies, due diligence, and SEC filings. Proven expertise in M&A and equity debt finance, with a track record of handling diverse clients. Provided strategic guidance on corporate governance, compliance, fiduciary duties, and ethical issues

I am a broadly skilled legal professional. I am highly drawn to technology, fintech, intellectual property, privacy law, contracts. I am also experienced in business litigation and business transactions. I have been told to have the following skills perfect time management, critical thinking, problem solving, attention to detail, communication and decision making. As a former flight attendant, I am well versed and acquired many of those skills in a fast faced multicultural/multilingual setting. I am able to work solo or as a team member and quickly adapt to changes. Finally, I am fluent in English, Lithuanian, Russian.

Attorney Lois Li is a bilingual business and commercial attorney licensed in Michigan, U.S. since 2014, in Ontario, Canada since 2015, and in New York, U.S. since 2020. As an attorney licensed in two countries, Lois leads Alpine Law’s US/China/Canada practice. She is experienced in legal and contractual transactions in both English and Chinese. Lois has over six years of experience in assisting clients with business operations and legal services, and is specialized in advising companies with legal needs in International Business, Securities law, Cryptocurrency – Block chain, and Fin-Tech. Having served as both an outside and an in-house counsel, Lois worked with many startup and small businesses. With a strong understanding of core business and the ability to translate business needs into legal requirements, Lois has assisted many companies to establish policies and procedures, and drafted and negotiated employment and transaction contracts. Further licensed as a Registered Nurse since 2010, Lois specializes in healthcare law and is experienced in FDA, HIPAA, Medicare and Medicaid regulations. She has assisted many businesses in the medical and healthcare industry.