Stephen Halper

A veteran of the Silicon Valley “tech boom”, Steve brings to his legal practice a unique wealth of knowledge and experience gained from a 35-year career addressing the needs of entrepreneurs, emerging growth companies, investment funds and private investors. Steve assists clients in the organization of business entities, seed and venture capital financing, mergers and acquisitions, and other corporate and business transactions in multiple industries that include technology, music and entertainment, food and beverage, retail, franchising, financial services and real estate. Steve has successfully represented: • Early stage technology and new media companies in seed, Series A and later rounds of venture capital financing; • Individual investors and private equity investment funds, as well as corporate and LLC issuers, in connection with private placements of securities; • Fortune 100 technology companies in strategic investments in, and divestitures of, portfolio companies; • Venture capital firms, and principals of private equity funds, in the formation of sidecar and co-investment funds, settlement of claims for clawback liability, and issues involving fund structure and fiduciary duty; • Corporations and LLCs in structuring and drafting of stock option, phantom membership and incentive compensation plans; and • Parties to numerous mergers, acquisitions and sales of businesses, in strategic as well as private equity transactions. A frequent panelist and lecturer in legal seminars relating to limited liability companies, Steve is a co-editor of the Guide to Organizing and Operating a Limited Liability Company in California and a contributor to the Report on Legal Opinions Concerning California Limited Liability Companies, both official publications of the State Bar of California. He also contributed to the drafting of recent legislation for the revision of California’s LLC Act, signed into law in September, 2012 by Governor Jerry Brown.