SAN FRANCISCO -- Silicon Legal Strategy (SLS) announced this summer that James Alonso joined the firm as an associate in its San Francisco office to offer legal assistance to software startups. Alonso is a former attorney for Gunderson Dettmer and offers SLS similar expertise.
“James helps startups navigate through the incorporation and funding processes, as well as manage day-to-day issues like negotiating commercial contracts and licenses,” a June 8 Marketwired article said. “Before joining Silicon Legal, James practiced at the Silicon Valley office of Gunderson Dettmer, where he advised over 100 emerging technology companies and investors in connection with venture capital financings, M&A transactions and corporate governance matters.”
Alonso is no stranger to startups, especially since he founded his own startup, Docasaurus.com, which is an automation software company for corporate attorneys and is used by lawyers across the country to form and finance companies.
"Silicon Legal is able to take care of startups in a way that other firms just can't match," Alonso said. "Their focus on scalable service is shown by how fast the firm itself is growing while continuing to delight its clients. I'm feeling very fortunate to be a part of this team and look forward to working with their incredible client base."
The match between Alonso and Silicon Legal Strategy is considered a good fit by the company.
"We're very excited to welcome James to Silicon Legal Strategy. We feel that our clients will benefit immensely from the targeted legal and business experience that James brings with him," Andre Gharakhanian, partner at Silicon Legal Strategy, said. "Silicon Legal just continues to attract top tier talent from other, larger firms. Having recently moved into a new, larger office space in San Francisco's SOMA district, we are excited to continue growing our headcount in the second half of 2016."
Silicon Legal Strategy considers itself a premier boutique law firm providing targeted, bottom-line-oriented advice to technology startups, innovative entrepreneurs and seasoned investors.
“Trained at the top firms in Silicon Valley, our attorneys and staff are incredibly passionate about technology and have extensive experience representing early stage companies and investors,” the firm’s website said. “We are a known quantity in Silicon Valley, and work with or sit across the table from every major law firm in the area. Perhaps most importantly, we ourselves are entrepreneurs. We truly understand the challenges of a startup -- like building and motivating a team, creating repeatable processes to ensure continued customer satisfaction at scale and dealing with infrastructure issues.”
As an associate at Silicon Legal Strategy, Alonso was hired to help startups incorporate, seek and raise financing, negotiate customer agreements, recruit and retain employees and achieve successful exits. He also works with leading venture capital, angel and strategic investors as counsel in financings and merger and acquisition deals.
He now represents clients like Everlaw, Osmo, Scoot Networks and Sharethrough, all software startups that have launched from a variety of investors.