Legal leadership for commercial, capital, technological, and strategic inflection points.
Counsel for moments that matter.
Strategic legal executive with 15+ years in-house guiding deep tech and technology-enabled consumer companies through complex commercial partnerships, capital strategy, legal infrastructure development, corporate governance, and special situations.
I build legal functions, find simplicity (and signal) in complexity, and excel under pressure. I’ve taught law students to negotiate, supervised both junior in-house counsel and large external teams, and advised 3 presidents, 2 peace prize winners, and 1 mononymous TV personality with a book club. I know how to vibe code, and when to use the telephone.
Areas of Expertise
Category-Defining Commercial Partnerships
Commercial architecture for products, markets, and partnerships without established precedent. Negotiated and delivered bespoke agreements with Hermès, General Motors, Nike, Shopify, Intel, L’Oréal, and other global brands (including the world’s leading consumer electronics brand) — structuring first-of-a-kind arrangements with major digital platforms and iconic counterparties.
Capital Markets, Strategic Finance & Novel Structures
Legal and strategic leadership across the full capital lifecycle, including recent experience with a $94M Series D equity financing, $90M tax-exempt private activity bond offering, $30M New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) financing, equipment finance, convertible notes, senior credit amendments, and public-private partnerships.
Special Situations, Restructuring & Stakeholder Management
Board-level counsel through liquidity crises, senior lender negotiations, debt and vendor workouts, forbearance agreements, and trade-debt restructurings. Deeply experienced at preserving and repairing relationships with lenders, investors, vendors, employees, and key commercial partners in moments of existential stress.
First Legal Officer / Legal Function Builder
Twice hired as a company’s first lawyer. Built legal functions from zero at prominent venture- and PE-backed companies — designing legal operations from the ground up, including scalable contracting and contract management, governance processes, managing internal and external lawyers and teams, serving as corporate secretary and board advisor, and running lean outside counsel models built on targeted specialist support. Today that means building AI-enabled legal functions from day one, where technology accelerates work while a designated human owns every major decision.
Technology, Data & AI Governance
Strategic counsel for technology-driven growth — digital commerce, technology and data-driven partnerships, and for the harder questions companies now face: how to move fast using AI without outsourcing actual judgment. I know how to use technology as a force multiplier while keeping accountability, verification, and escalation in the mix.
IP, Litigation, Employment & Global Market Access
Managing domestic and cross-border intellectual property, employment, and commercial litigation, including class action litigation. Experience resolving international IP disputes, supporting global licensing and distribution programs, and opening access to new global markets through targeted regulatory and industry advocacy.
Experience
MycoWorks
First General Counsel of a late-stage biomaterials company backed by more than $350M in equity and debt from investors including BlackRock, Temasek, and Novo, with a complex global IP portfolio and a commercial-scale automated manufacturing facility. Built the in-house legal function and served as strategic partner to finance, manufacturing, HR, and executive leadership during scale-up to commercial production. Negotiated category-defining commercial agreements with General Motors, Hermès, Nike, and leading consumer electronics, biomaterials, and luxury brands. Led legal strategy for a $94M Series D financing, $90M tax-exempt private activity bond offering, $30M NMTC financing, equipment finance, convertible notes, and senior credit facility amendments. Structured and documented legal workstreams for a $130M manufacturing facility build-out and helped develop a novel public-private financing partnership with South Carolina leadership. Advised the board and executive team through liquidity crisis and restructuring, including lender forbearance, key agreement restructurings, stakeholder negotiations, strategic alternatives, asset transfer, and daily board-level updates. Retained by an independent trustee to complete the transition of key assets.
Rebecca Minkoff
First in-house General Counsel of a global consumer brand known for early adoption of emerging digital technologies. Promoted into a broader executive role with ownership of legal, partnerships, corporate development, capital structure, digital/data, international expansion, and restructuring initiatives. Sourced, negotiated, and closed strategic partnerships with Shopify, eBay, Intel, L’Oréal, and others. Oversaw legal and strategic work for digital commerce platforms, data-driven retail initiatives, SaaS agreements, GDPR/CCPA-compliant data policies, and technology-enabled brand extensions. Structured domestic and international licensing and distribution agreements, managed cross-border IP and commercial disputes, and led a cross-border industry effort that changed Chinese regulatory policy, removing longstanding brand IP barriers and opening new manufacturing, distribution, and partnerships in Asia. Led trade-debt restructuring and capital-structure initiatives while preserving critical supplier, lender, and investor relationships through periods of market and company stress. Served as corporate secretary, prepared board and investor materials, and participated in key board, bank, investor, and C-suite meetings.
Act II
Provided business, legal, and strategic advice to high-profile media, entertainment, technology, and consumer clients. Supported digital innovation, strategic partnerships, and startup launches, including early work connected to MasterClass and other high-profile ventures.
Foundational Experience
In-house counsel at a global investment firm with $6B under management, and BigLaw corporate/M&A and finance experience at AmLaw 100 and AmLaw 10 firms. Advised on acquisitions, financings, restructurings, SEC reporting, private equity investments, cross-border matters, corporate governance, strategic agreements, and joint ventures.
Public Service & Teaching
Full-time legal staff during the 2008 Obama campaign, leading legal support and large teams across 34 swing-state counties in North Carolina. Campaign advisor to high-profile congressional candidate. Former adjunct law professor and research assistant to President Bill Clinton. Recipient of NYU’s highest award for service to the school community.
Education
NYU School of Law
Juris Doctor
Cornell University
Bachelor of Science
About
I have spent my career helping ambitious founders and companies do things they haven’t done before — and helping them navigate what happens when the original plan stops working.
At MycoWorks, I built the legal function for a company creating an entirely new materials category. The work ranged from negotiating long-term partnerships with Hermès, General Motors, Nike, and other global brands — including a confidential consumer electronics behemoth — to driving complex financings and bringing structure and discipline to board decision-making during a liquidity crisis.
At Rebecca Minkoff, I joined as the company’s first in-house lawyer and grew into an EVP role spanning legal, corporate development, strategic partnerships, capital structure, digital commerce, data, and international expansion. I took a leadership role in the company’s most consequential partnerships, helping to establish the company as a technology-forward brand.
In both roles, the job was never simply to manage risk. It was to understand what the business was trying to accomplish, determine which risks actually mattered, and help the company choose and execute a path forward.
I get close to the business. I ask the uncomfortable question early. I turn complexity into clear conclusions and decisions people can act on. I am equally comfortable briefing board members, negotiating transactions with global counterparties, working through numbers with finance teams, and picking up the phone — or getting on a plane — to repair critical partner relationships. When circumstances become difficult, I communicate directly, preserve trust, and keep the organization moving.
My judgment was shaped before I became a GC: in M&A and finance at prominent law firms, inside a global investment firm, on a presidential campaign, and in the classroom teaching law students to negotiate. Those experiences taught me that good counsel isn’t the longest memo or the loudest voice. It is the ability to see the full picture, to understand the people around the table, and to know when to push, when to listen, when to reframe the question, and when it is time to decide.
I am drawn to companies operating in real whitespace — deep tech, technology, and technology-enabled consumer businesses where ambition, capital strategy, governance, and legal risk all need to be reconciled. I use technology (including AI) aggressively, but I do not outsource judgment. I make clear recommendations and stand behind them.
The goal is to move forward with better information, clearer decisions, and fewer surprises.