I
Business formation
Entity choice, founder agreements, and equity set up properly the first time, so the paperwork never becomes the story.
- Delaware and California entities
- Founder, equity, and vesting agreements
- Conversions and reorganizations
Business counsel since 2009
Counsel for companies that are building something
From formation to exit, we advise founders and owner-operators on the decisions that shape a company. Clear advice, partner attention, and fees you can see coming.
Most legal problems are business problems first. We staff every matter with a partner, write in plain English, and tell you when a fight is not worth having.
Warner & Reed LLP, San Francisco
Practice areas
Four disciplines, practiced deeply
We do a small number of things at a high standard. If your matter sits outside these areas, we will say so on the first call and point you somewhere good.
II
Contracts
Drafting and negotiating the agreements your revenue depends on, with terms you can actually operate under.
- Customer and vendor agreements
- Licensing and IP assignments
- Terms of service and policy reviews
III
Disputes
Steady hands when a deal breaks down. Most of the matters we take resolve without anyone seeing a courtroom.
- Partnership and shareholder disputes
- Commercial litigation
- Mediation and structured settlement
IV
Employment
Hires, exits, and policies handled before they become exposure, with counsel that respects both the law and the people.
- Offer letters and handbooks
- Executive separations
- Contractor classification
The firm
A deliberately small firm
Ten attorneys. No leverage model, no rotating cast of associates learning on your invoice. You work with the partner you hired, start to finish.
- Flat fees for defined work: formations, contract packages, policy suites
- Phase budgets for disputes, agreed in writing before work begins
- Responses within one business day, usually much faster
- Advice framed around the business outcome, not the billable hour
Attorneys
The people on your matter
Every engagement is led by one of the attorneys below. No hand-offs you did not agree to.
Eleanor Warner
Managing Partner
Formation and governance. Twenty years advising founders and family-held companies, formerly general counsel of a regional logistics firm.
Daniel Reed
Partner, Disputes
First chair on more than forty commercial matters. Known for settling early when it serves the client and trying the case when it does not.
Priya Natarajan
Counsel, Employment
Advises on hiring, separations, and workplace investigations for companies from six employees to six hundred.
Insights
From the firm
Short, practical notes we send clients before they need them. A few recent ones:
The five clauses founders sign too fast Indemnity, auto-renewal, and three others that quietly shift risk onto you.
6 min read
Converting your LLC before a priced round What a Delaware conversion actually involves, and the six weeks to allow for it.
8 min read
When a demand letter deserves silence Not every provocation needs an answer. How we decide, and what we watch for.
5 min read
Credentials
Seventeen years of counsel
2009
Founded in San Francisco
300+
Companies formed and counseled
40+
Commercial disputes first-chaired
3
Bar admissions: California, New York, Delaware
Start with a conversation
Tell us what you are facing. Our intake team will route you to the right attorney, usually the same business day.
(415) 555-0163
Monday through Friday · 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM Pacific
Prefer to write it down? Use the assistant in the corner of this page and describe your matter in a sentence or two. It reaches the same intake team.