About Boston SAFE Agreement Lawyers
Our Boston startup lawyers help businesses and individuals with their legal needs. A few of the major industries that represent Massachusetts's economy include financial services, life sciences, and technology.
Our platform has lawyers that specialize in safe agreements. SAFE agreements are legal contracts that startups use to raise seed financing capital and similar to a warrant. Click here to learn their 5 key parts (2023). ContractCounsel’s approach makes legal services affordable by removing unnecessary law firm overhead.
Meet some of our Boston SAFE Agreement Lawyers
Christopher R.
Corporate and transactional attorney in sixth year of practice. Focus areas include general corporate counsel, labor and employment law, business partnership matters, securities matters related to privately-held companies, and regulatory compliance in securities and finance matters.
Jo Ann J.
Jo Ann has been practicing for over 20 years, working primarily with high growth companies from inception through exit and all points in between. She is skilled in Mergers & Acquisitions, Contractual Agreements (including founders agreements, voting agreements, licensing agreements, terms of service, privacy policies, stockholder agreements, operating agreements, equity incentive plans, employment agreements, vendor agreements and other commercial agreements), Corporate Governance and Due Diligence.
Jason H.
Jason has been providing legal insight and business expertise since 2001. He is admitted to both the Virginia Bar and the Texas State Bar, and also proud of his membership to the Fellowship of Ministers and Churches. Having served many people, companies and organizations with legal and business needs, his peers and clients know him to be a high-performing and skilled attorney who genuinely cares about his clients. In addition to being a trusted legal advisor, he is a keen business advisor for executive leadership and senior leadership teams on corporate legal and regulatory matters. His personal mission is to take a genuine interest in his clients, and serve as a primary resource to them.
Moss S.
Over 30 years of experience practicing commercial real estate and complex business litigation law.
Elizabeth W.
Liz is an experienced insurance professional, having worked with carriers and brokers for over 10 years. She can review or draft a variety of commercial agreements and is here to help your business. Specialties include: Master Service Agreements, business process outsourcing, marketing and partnership agreements, broker agreements, business associate agreements, and NDAs.
Patrick N.
Before attending law school, I had a prior career in business performance reporting. This experience differentiates me from other attorneys. I can readily read, interpret, and synthesize financial reporting. I also have a passion for legal research and writing.
Karl D. S.
Karl D. Shehu, has a multidisciplinary practice encompassing small business law, estate and legacy planning, real estate law, and litigation. Attorney Shehu has assisted families, physicians, professionals, and people of faith provide for their loved ones by crafting individualized estate and legacy plans. Protecting families and safeguarding families is his passion. Attorney Shehu routinely represents lenders, buyers, sellers, and businesses in real estate transactions, researching and resolving title defects, escrowing funds, and drafting lending documents. To date, Attorney Shehu has closed a real estate deal in every town in Connecticut. As a litigator, Attorney Shehu has proven willing to engage in contentious court battles to obtain results for his clients. While practicing at DLA Piper, LLP, in Boston, Attorney Shehu represented the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies in multidistrict litigations filed throughout the United States. He has been a passionate advocate for immigrants and the seriously injured, frequently advising against lowball settlement offers. He is willing to try every case to verdict, and he meticulously prepares every case for trial. Attorney Shehu began his legal career as a consumer lawyer, utilizing fee-shifting statutes to force unscrupulous businesses to pay the legal fees of aggrieved consumers. For example, in Access Therapies v. Mendoza, 1:13-cv-01317 (S.D. Ind. 2014), Attorney Shehu utilized unique interpretations of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, Truth-in-Lending Act, and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) to obtain a favorable result for his immigrant client. Attorney Shehu is a Waterbury, Connecticut native. He attended Our Lady of Mount Carmel grammar school, The Loomis Chaffee School, and Chase Collegiate School before earning degrees from Boston College, the University of Oxford’s Said Business School in England, and Pepperdine University School of Law. At Oxford, Karl was voted president of his class. Outside of his law practice, Attorney Shehu has worked to improve the world around him by participating in numerous charitable endeavors. He is a former candidate for the Connecticut Senate and a parishioner of St. Patrick Parish and Oratory in Waterbury. In addition, Attorney Shehu has written extensively on the Twenty-fifth Amendment and law firm retention by multinational firms.
September 7, 2022
Doug F.
Doug has over 20 years of private and public company general counsel experience focusing his legal practice on commercial transactions including both software and biotech. He is a tech savvy, business savvy lawyer who is responsive and will attain relationship building outcomes with your counterparty while effectively managing key risks and accelerating revenue. He received his Juris Doctor from Boston University School of Law earning the Book Award in Professional Ethics and after graduation he taught legal writing there for a number of years. Prior to law school, Doug earned a M.A in Mathematics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and a B.S in Honors Mathematics at Purdue University. After law school, Doug joined Fish & Richardson, where his practice focused on licensing software, trademarks and biotech. While at Fish & Richardson Doug authored a book on software licensing published by the American Intellectual Property Lawyers Association. Later he joined as General Counsel at FTP Software and led an IPO as well as corporate development. Doug has broad experience with a broad range of commercial agreement drafting and negotiation including SaaS software and professional services, distribution and other channel agreements, joint venture and M&A. Doug continued his leadership, corporate governance and commercial transaction practice at Mercury Computers (NASDAQ:MRCY) leading corporate development. Doug’s experience ranges from enterprise software to biotech and other vertical markets. He joined the board of Deque Systems in 2009 and joined in an operating role as President in 2020 successfully scaling the software business.
January 23, 2023
Joseph M.
Joe provides premium legal services to both individuals and businesses throughout the Commonwealth. Experience litigating civil and criminal matters, as well as drafting/negotiation transactional issues involving contracts, real estate, business formation, estate planning and more. Prior to entering private law practice, Joe worked for two decades in financial industry including regulatory and compliance for both national and regional banks and investment firms.
May 23, 2023
Barbara M.
In 1991, Barbara Markessinis graduated cum laude from Albany Law School in Albany, New York. Shortly thereafter, Barbara was admitted to practice in New York State and in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. In 1997, Barbara was admitted to practice in Massachusetts and in April of 2009 she was admitted to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. After graduating from law school, Barbara worked in private practice in the Albany, New York area and for Sneeringer, Monahan, Provost & Redgrave Title Agency, Inc. before joining the New York State Division for Youth and the New York State Attorney General's Real Property Bureau as a Senior Attorney. During her tenure with the Division for Youth, Attorney Markessinis found herself in Manhattan Family Court in front of Judge Judy! A career highlight for sure! After admission to the Massachusetts Bar, Barbara returned to private practice in the Berkshires and eventually started her own firm in June of 2006. Attorney Markessinis offers legal services in elder law, estate planning and administration/probate, family law, limited assistance representation (LAR), real estate and landlord tenant disputes. In 2016, after a family member found themselves in need of long term care, Attorney Markessinis’ launched her elder law practice. Through this experience, Attorney Markessinis discovered that the process of selecting a long term care facility and/or caregiver, applying for MassHealth and preserving an applicant’s assets are serious issues faced by many people every day. This area of the law is Barbara’s passion and she offers her legal services to families who find themselves in need of an elder law attorney. Attorney Markessinis is part of the Volunteer Legal Clinic in the Berkshire Probate & Family Court and has provided limited free legal services to patients and families at Moments House cancer support center in Pittsfield. She currently serves as a Hearing Committee Member for the MA Board of Bar Overseers and is a member of the Berkshire County and Massachusetts Bar Associations, Berkshire County Estate Planning Council (BCEPC). Attorney Markessinis is also the host of WUPE Talks Law. She also serves on the Town of Hancock Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Board.
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Browse Lawyers NowFind SAFE Note Template by Types
A Pre-Money SAFE Note is a financial instrument used by startups and investors in early-stage funding. It's an agreement that provides investors the right to purchase equity in the company at a future date, typically during a future equity financing round, sale, or IPO.
The terms "Pre-Money" refer to the valuation of the company before the current round of financing. This means the valuation would not take into account the money invested in the financing round. For example, if the company receives a valuation of $10 million to raise $2 million, the "Pre-Money" valuation is $10 million and "Post-Money" valuation is $12 million (includes the money from the financing round).
- Valuation Cap: The valuation cap is a maximum valuation at which the SAFE can convert into equity. This protects investors from over-dilution if the company's valuation increases significantly before the SAFE converts. For example, if a SAFE has a valuation cap of $5 million and the company's valuation in the next funding round is $10 million, the SAFE holder’s investment converts as if the company was valued at only $5 million, offering more shares for the same investment compared to later investors.
A Post-Money SAFE Note is a financial instrument used by startups and investors in early-stage funding. It's an agreement that provides investors the right to purchase equity in the company at a future date, typically during a future equity financing round, sale, or IPO.
The terms "Post-Money" refer to the valuation of the company after the current round of financing. This means the valuation would take into account the money invested in the financing round. For example, if the company receives a valuation of $10 million to raise $2 million, the "Pre-Money" valuation is $10 million and "Post-Money" valuation is $12 million (includes the money from the financing round).
- Discount: This is a feature that gives investors a discounted price compared to what later investors pay in a future financing round. For example, if a SAFE note carries a 20% discount and the price per share in the next funding round is $1.00, the SAFE holder would be able to convert their investment into equity at $0.80 per share. This discount compensates early investors for their higher risk.
- Valuation Cap: The valuation cap is a maximum valuation at which the SAFE can convert into equity. This protects investors from over-dilution if the company's valuation increases significantly before the SAFE converts. For example, if a SAFE has a valuation cap of $5 million and the company's valuation in the next funding round is $10 million, the SAFE holder’s investment converts as if the company was valued at only $5 million, offering more shares for the same investment compared to later investors.
A Post-Money SAFE Note is a financial instrument used by startups and investors in early-stage funding. It's an agreement that provides investors the right to purchase equity in the company at a future date, typically during a future equity financing round, sale, or IPO.
The terms "Post-Money" refer to the valuation of the company after the current round of financing. This means the valuation would take into account the money invested in the financing round. For example, if the company receives a valuation of $10 million to raise $2 million, the "Pre-Money" valuation is $10 million and "Post-Money" valuation is $12 million (includes the money from the financing round).
- Discount: This is a feature that gives investors a discounted price compared to what later investors pay in a future financing round. For example, if a SAFE note carries a 20% discount and the price per share in the next funding round is $1.00, the SAFE holder would be able to convert their investment into equity at $0.80 per share. This discount compensates early investors for their higher risk.
- Valuation Cap: The valuation cap is a maximum valuation at which the SAFE can convert into equity. This protects investors from over-dilution if the company's valuation increases significantly before the SAFE converts. For example, if a SAFE has a valuation cap of $5 million and the company's valuation in the next funding round is $10 million, the SAFE holder’s investment converts as if the company was valued at only $5 million, offering more shares for the same investment compared to later investors.
A SAFE Note is a financial instrument used by startups and investors in early-stage funding. It's an agreement that provides investors the right to purchase equity in the company at a future date, typically during a future equity financing round, sale, or IPO. Given this SAFE Note has no valuation cap included, it does not need to reference "Pre-Money" or "Post-Money" since the valuation at the triggering event will not impact the price the investors shares are converted. It will only be converted at the discount.
- Discount: This is a feature that gives investors a discounted price compared to what later investors pay in a future financing round. For example, if a SAFE note carries a 20% discount and the price per share in the next funding round is $1.00, the SAFE holder would be able to convert their investment into equity at $0.80 per share. This discount compensates early investors for their higher risk.
A Pre-Money SAFE Note is a financial instrument used by startups and investors in early-stage funding. It's an agreement that provides investors the right to purchase equity in the company at a future date, typically during a future equity financing round, sale, or IPO.
The terms "Pre-Money" refer to the valuation of the company before the current round of financing. This means the valuation would not take into account the money invested in the financing round. For example, if the company receives a valuation of $10 million to raise $2 million, the "Pre-Money" valuation is $10 million and "Post-Money" valuation is $12 million (includes the money from the financing round).
- Discount: This is a feature that gives investors a discounted price compared to what later investors pay in a future financing round. For example, if a SAFE note carries a 20% discount and the price per share in the next funding round is $1.00, the SAFE holder would be able to convert their investment into equity at $0.80 per share. This discount compensates early investors for their higher risk.
- Valuation Cap: The valuation cap is a maximum valuation at which the SAFE can convert into equity. This protects investors from over-dilution if the company's valuation increases significantly before the SAFE converts. For example, if a SAFE has a valuation cap of $5 million and the company's valuation in the next funding round is $10 million, the SAFE holder’s investment converts as if the company was valued at only $5 million, offering more shares for the same investment compared to later investors.
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ContractsCounsel User
Draft a SAFE investment agreement provide seed-round fundraising advice
Location: Massachusetts
Turnaround: A week
Service: Drafting
Doc Type: SAFE Note
Number of Bids: 10
Bid Range: $249 - $3,200
ContractsCounsel User
Need SAFE agreement drafted
Location: Massachusetts
Turnaround: Over a week
Service: Drafting
Doc Type: SAFE Note
Number of Bids: 8
Bid Range: $395 - $3,500
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