WLF is a boutique corporate law firm representing investors and entrepreneurs, from startup to exit and at all stages between. We are as entrepreneurial as many of our clients, and our approach is driven by a view of the attorney-client relationship as collaborative and value added, not cost centric.

Mission

To provide value-added legal services to investors and entrepreneurs, protecting their interests, solving problems, and helping them grow safely and execute intelligently.

Motive

After years in the monolithic New York City, big-firm model, Thaddeus Wojcik launched WLF to introduce a fresh approach to the attorney-client relationship and a positive experience with lawyers for small businesses and investors. Our alliance-based practice model allows us to nimbly provide responsive, collaborative legal representation that meets the needs of 21st century clients in a way they can understand and at a cost they can respect.

Method

Alternative billing models + Lean staffing + Green office policies + Leveraged efficiencies = Effective rates well below what could otherwise be charged in Manhattan or Los Angeles for representation in complex legal, business and organizational matters.

Special counsel services for one-off matters. Outside general counsel representation for clients needing a go-to legal advisor on a regular basis. Limited or periodic engagements for corporate investigations, policy advisory services, and continuing fiduciary education for boards of directors.

For businesses

Forming entities and structuring new businesses, private equity and debt financing, mergers & acquisitions, planning and executing exit strategies (including going public), shareholder relations, contract review and negotiation, independent contractor agreements, executive employment agreements, joint ventures and structural reorganizations, protecting and licensing trade secrets and creative and other intellectual property, mediation for small business breakups, officer & director fiduciary duties, and other legal and business matters.

For investors

We advise and represent investors in private equity and debt transactions. Our representation includes conducting legal due diligence, negotiating deal terms and documents, advising on exit strategies, and counseling on the enforcement of rights under investment contracts. We are also able to act in a general counsel capacity, working with litigation counsel, in the event of a post-funding litigation or other dispute proceeding to enforce investors' rights against issuers.

Some things we like

Entrepreneurs // Investors // Startups // Technology // Crowdfunding // Innovative businesses // Sports // Fitness // Fashion // Design // Publishing // Music // Film // Solving complex business issues // Resolving business disputes among partners

Startups

We love exciting, promising startups! Startup ventures may qualify for several fixed-fee packages.

Stellar credentials. Broad experience. Entrepreneurial spirit. Pragmatism balanced with a measured paranoia for our clients’ interests. Top-tier law firm and law-school backgrounds. We have fun and love what we do. Think outside the box? What box?

Thaddeus Wojcik

Principal

Thaddeus Wojcik is co-founder of a technology startup and an honorably discharged US Army veteran, as well as an experienced corporate lawyer. A graduate of Notre Dame Law School and Temple University’s Fox School of Business, Thaddeus is licensed to practice law in both New York and California and is an alumnus of top New York City law firms and one of the Big 4 accounting firms. Thaddeus is a closet poet, oenophile, and an open-water swimmer, marathoner and Ironman triathlete, and for six years coached a high school triathlon program in the South Bronx. Detailed CV here.

Of Counsel

Arina Shulga is Of Counsel to WLF. Arina is bilingual in Russian and English, fluent in French and has basic knowledge of Spanish. Arina holds a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, a Certificate of Study in Business Policy and Management from The Wharton School of Business, a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College, and an International Baccalaureate degree from the Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific. An alumna of one of the largest and most prestigious law firms in New York City, Arina is licensed to practice law in New York, and is co-founder of a company that develops educational apps for children. 

WLF Network

For urgent or special matters, we co-counsel with talent from a network of other exceptional, small, independent law firms with diverse specialties, providing a virtual one-stop service experience, including: arbitration, art law, banking, commercial litigation, collections, copyright, e-commerce, elder care, employment, family law, fashion, film & television, media, mediation, music, hospitality, intellectual property, immigration, liquor, patents, personal injury, publishing, real estate, securities litigation, tax, technology, theatre, trademark, white collar criminal defense, and other areas.

Selectively representing investors + entrepreneurs, we operate nimbly to meet the demands of modern business clients. We have a special appreciation for startup + growth-stage companies, innovative business models, technology leveraged for social impact, and complex transactions.

Culture

Jeans over suits. Personality over polish. Substance over form. The practice of law occurs in the head, the heart, the intuition; in the interaction of the attorney-client alliance, not (necessarily) in a suit and tie. Like many of our clients, we are typically comfortable in the same casual, urban chic as is today's entrepreneur.

Costs

Our practice model allows us to charge nearly half what could otherwise be charged in the New York or Los Angeles legal markets for big-firm attorneys with the same experience, credentials, and skills. Entrepreneurial in every way, WLF offers six innovative billing models. For clarity and certainty, most client engagements are memorialized in a formal engagement letter explaining your and our responsibilities, rights and expectations.

Learn More / Billing Models

Courtesy rates

In addition to our other alternative billing models, WLF offers special flat-fee packages for qualifying startups, providing maximum value and certainty in billing to seed-stage business ventures when they most need it.

WLF supports our troops

WLF is a veteran-owned law practice: honorably discharged veterans and active-duty military and their dependants (as well as KIA survivors) are extended a 20 percent courtesy discount.

Flexible billing for clients with diverse needs. Our six basic billing models and three special models reflect our entrepreneurial approach to serving clients throughout the organizational life cycle. Billing arrangements are memorialized in a formal engagement letter and are subject to applicable rules of professional conduct.

Cost-sensitive hourly

Available to new and existing clients. This model offers clients with available cash or corporate credit cards the benefit of receiving professional services at a steeply discounted rate. Standard hourly rates are steeply discounted—more than 20% from normal rates. Fees are earned against pre-paid retainers. If a retainer is depleted, services continue after being refreshed.  

Cash-sensitive hourly

Available to clients with existing relationships with us. This model benefits clients experiencing a short-term cash crunch when legal services are needed urgently. Services are invoiced at our standard hourly rates after being performed. An initial or nominal pre-paid monthly retainer may also occasionally be appropriate, depending on the engagement. 

X|4|Y(SM) billing

Our signature billing model. This model gives the client the benefit of greater certainty in budgeting for legal costs. In exchange for an agreed upon monthly fee (Y), the Firm will provide up to an agreed upon number of hours in services (X). If all X hours are used, the effective hourly rate is discounted nearly 50%. Any hours in excess of X in a given month are billed at standard rates. 

Flat fee

This model also furthers certainty in the client’s budgeting, while the Firm assumes certain risks. In addition to our fixed-fee packages for startups, other matters are occasionally appropriate for flat-rate billing. In exchange for one flat fee, certain agreed upon tasks are undertaken. Effective hourly rates are higher or lower depending on client needs and external factors. 

Concierge billing

This model crystalizes certainty in budgeting and can result in significant reduction in aggregate legal expenses. For organizational clients with significant but unpredictable long-term legal needs, or the need for regular, go-to outside counsel on a strict budget, in exchange for an annual or semi-annual retainer, services are provided with virtualy no cap on hours and few limits. 

Equity + deferred fees

This model is subject to special considerations and may require a written acknowledgment and waiver. On a very selective basis, after discussion and due diligence, fees are deferred until certain milestones are met, and in exchange for the risk taken by the firm, the firm is issued an equity stake or right to convert deferred fees into equity in a client’s venture.

Hybrid

Consistent with our collaborative approach to the lawyer-client relationship, WLF is open to considering client proposals for hybrids of two or more of our basic billing models.

Monthly subscription

Our most collaborative model not only can result in lower effective rates, but can act as a preventative measure, helping client and lawyer spot issues that may otherwise have gone overlooked, while allowing us to get to know your business more intimately over time without the worry of the proverbial ticking clock. For a smaller flat-fee paid monthly, client and lawyer will have a monthly conference call + up to a set number of hours each month for agreed upon services. If client desires, subscriptions can include monthly, in-person meetings with client and client’s accountant. 

Startup packages

We offer a suite of flat-fee packages specifically designed for qualified startups. The goal is to balance the demands of the strict budget of a startup with the need to structure a new venture intelligently.