Governance
What changes in governance after a Series C
The board and control provisions founders are often unprepared for once institutional investors hold board seats.
Corporate & commercial law
Counsel that thinks about your business beyond the transaction
Harlow Vance advises mid-market and growth-stage companies on M&A, corporate governance, and commercial disputes, with partners who stay on the relationship for years after the deal closes.
Trusted by teams at
- Wexley Industrial Group
- Calder Bay Capital
- Kindred Makers
- Ironbridge Foods
- Pellham Medical Devices
- Northmark Freight
Practice areas
Counsel across the lifecycle of a growing company
Most clients start with one matter and stay for the relationship. Our practice groups work together rather than in silos.
Mergers & acquisitions
Buy-side and sell-side representation from letter of intent through post-close integration.
Corporate governance
Board advisory, entity structuring, and compliance counsel for companies scaling past founder-led governance.
Commercial contracts
Drafting and negotiating the agreements that run your business day to day: supply, licensing, and partnership deals.
Venture & growth financing
Representing companies and investors through seed, growth, and pre-IPO financing rounds.
Commercial litigation
Business disputes, contract litigation, and pre-litigation resolution strategy.
Employment & labor
Executive agreements, equity compensation structuring, and workforce compliance counsel.
Three decades advising companies through every stage of growth
- Active client relationships
- 310
- Active client relationships
- Average client tenure
- 9 yrs
- Average client tenure
- Deals closed (5yr)
- 412
- Deals closed (5yr)
- Practice groups
- 6
- Practice groups
Representative matters
A few matters we can discuss publicly
Most of our work is confidential by nature. These are matters our clients have agreed we can reference.
Private equity
Calder Bay Capital
Served as primary outside counsel across a five-year run of platform acquisitions and add-on deals in the industrial services sector.
$920Min aggregate deal value across 14 transactions
Creator marketplace
Kindred Makers
Led Series C financing counsel, including a governance restructuring that satisfied new institutional board requirements without disrupting founder control.
$40Mfinancing round closed in nine weeks
About the firm
Founded on the idea that continuity of counsel matters
Harlow Vance was founded in 1994 on a simple premise: companies do better with counsel who understand their business over years, beyond the deal in front of them. We've stayed a single-office firm by design, so partners can stay directly involved in client relationships rather than handing off to associates.
- Partner-led relationships
- A partner remains your primary contact for the life of the relationship, long after the pitch.
- Business judgment first
- We're taught to ask what's right for your business as well as what's defensible on paper.
- Single office, by design
- We've stayed intentionally concentrated in Chicago rather than growing into a diffuse national brand.
- Plain-language drafting
- Contracts you can read without a law degree, whenever the matter allows it.
Leadership
Diane Harlow
Managing Partner
Richard Vance
Senior Partner, M&A
Sofia Brandt
Partner, Governance
James Okafor
Partner, Litigation
What clients say
“They've been our outside general counsel for nine years. The continuity means we never have to re-explain our business before getting real advice.”
Warren Talbot
General Counsel, Wexley Industrial Group
“Harlow Vance closed our Series C financing in nine weeks, including a board restructuring most firms would have taken three months on alone.”
Imogen Castell
CEO, Kindred Makers
“Fourteen acquisitions over five years with the same lead partner on every deal. That kind of continuity is rare at this deal volume.”
Adrian Kessler
Managing Director, Calder Bay Capital
Firm insights
Notes from our practice groups
M&A
Reading an LOI like the deal is already signed
Why the letter of intent stage deserves as much legal attention as founders typically give it too little.
Commercial
The commercial contract clauses that cause the most disputes
A partner's field notes on the boilerplate provisions that quietly cause the most expensive fights later.
Frequently asked questions
Most clients range from Series A growth-stage companies through mid-market businesses generating $20M to $500M in revenue.
Talk to a partner before your next matter gets complicated
Most engagements start with a direct conversation with the partner who would lead the work.