October 14, 2022 – Ulmer & Berne LLP announced today a significant step forward in its ongoing support of entrepreneurs, startups, and venture capital funds with the formal launch of the firm’s Venture Law Practice Group. This move positions the firm to provide seamless full-service legal counsel to emerging companies, investors, and VC funds, following the rapid expansion of its team of dedicated venture attorneys.
Led by Ulmer Partners Vance V. VanDrake III and Zachary D. Bahorik, Ulmer has uniquely merged corporate venture law and intellectual property law by hiring and training attorneys that are dedicated to the venture space. Building upon these core disciplines, the team also has deep experience in venture tax, corporate selection, fundraising, mergers and acquisitions, data privacy, software transactions, patents, trademarks, copyrights, and litigation.
“I’ve been working in the venture space for more than a decade, but largely with a specific focus on the intellectual property needs of startup companies,” said Venture Law Co-Group Leader Vance VanDrake. “With the strategic addition of Zach Bahorik, Brett Renzenbrink, and a number of associates on the corporate and tax side of venture, we’ve been able to grow the team around our combined capabilities. We are proud to have built a robust, experienced team of attorneys who intrinsically understand the needs of early stage companies, investors, and funds, because we’ve been where our clients are.”
Ulmer’s Venture Law Practice Group is comprised of attorneys who understand the unique complexities of the venture law space because many are, themselves, current and former angel investors, venture fund managers, and startup founders. Because of the group’s deep industry knowledge, it understands clients’ business needs, and helps them identify and prioritize where legal adds to enterprise value rather than simply increasing the monthly burn rate.
Ulmer represents both portfolio companies and investors at all steps of the venture path. Attorneys in Ulmer’s Venture Law Practice Group have worked with more than 1,000 startup companies across a full spectrum of industries. They have helped create over $1 billion of value for entrepreneurs by solidifying their intellectual property portfolios, served as counsel for venture funds and investor groups that have raised and deployed more than $300 million in investment capital, and fundraised with companies that have brought in over $500 million in investment capital.