All Posts: ‘Lawyers’

Back to New York City: How I Came Full Circle

by Scott Edward Walker on February 2nd, 2011

Background

I began my legal career as a corporate associate at two major law firms in New York City.  After nearly eight years, however, I realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life helping entrepreneurs (like my father).  I also saw a big problem in the legal marketplace — i.e., that the big-firm template generally doesn’t work for entrepreneurs and startups.  Accordingly, in 2005, I moved to California — the land of the entrepreneurs — to try to solve this problem and launched Walker Corporate Law.

NYC v2

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What’s It Like Working at a Major New York City Law Firm?

by Scott Edward Walker on January 26th, 2011

Introduction

About once a week, I receive an email or phone call from a law school student asking for career advice and specifically inquiring what it’s like working at a major New York City law firm (as I did for nearly eight years).  I discuss below the good, the bad and the ugly.

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How To Be a Silicon Valley Lawyer: A Tribute to Craig Johnson

by Scott Edward Walker on December 15th, 2010

Craig Johnson

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Dear Entrepreneurs: Choose Your Own Legal Counsel

by Scott Edward Walker on September 8th, 2010

Introduction

The purpose of this post is expand upon my answer to the question on Quora:

“What should you do as a startup when a Bay Area VC insists that you use their expensive legal counsel?”

Mark Suster, a VC at GRP Partners, has also written and spoken about how he likes to “share” his legal counsel with the startup in which he is investing.  My advice to entrepreneurs is clear: push back hard on this issue and choose your own strong, independent legal counsel – i.e., a law firm that’s going to work hard to protect you and watch your back.

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It’s Time to Destroy the Billable Hour

by Scott Edward Walker on March 10th, 2010

 

The Market Problem

I received three calls over the past few days from entrepreneurs looking for a new law firm because of the excessive fees of their current law firm.  Two of the three entrepreneurs advised me that they were reluctant to even call their lawyer with a question because of the fees.  I thought to myself:  I get it!  15 minutes = $150 to $200 for partners at the big firms. (more…)

Behind The Big Law-Firm Curtain: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

by Scott Edward Walker on October 27th, 2009

I’ve been doing deals as a corporate attorney for over 15 years now, including nearly 8 years in the trenches at two big law firms in New York City.  Accordingly, I thought it would be helpful for entrepreneurs if I briefly peel back the curtain of the big law firm and explain how these firms work (i.e., the good, the bad, the ugly) so that entrepreneurs can make an informed decision as to whether it makes sense to be working with a big law firm with respect to a particular corporate project.  Obviously, some of this is a bit self-serving, but entrepreneurs need to understand that the assumption “the bigger, the better” — i.e., the bigger the law firm, the better the representation — is not necessarily the case.  The video version of this post is set forth directly below.

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