Click here to read the first post in the series, The Marriage of TechCo and Co-op. If traditional tech platforms are generally designed to maximize liquidity value, and cooperatives are generally designed to maximize use value, how can the #platformcoop movement successfully blend both models to meet the needs of all stakeholders involved? We think one …
Raising capital for a business
New Models for #platformcoop Design: The Marriage of TechCo and Co-op
Over the years, we have advised our clients on dozens of #platformcoop designs, formations, and fundraising campaigns. While the cooperative structure has been used for decades as a legal vessel for both collective asset ownership (e.g. affordable and market-rate housing, commercial real estate, electric generation and distribution, manufacturing, processing, etc.) and for collective distribution access …
Mission Protection for Traditional Companies – Blog 2, Voting Trusts and Agreements
In our previous blog about mission protection for traditional companies, we discussed how golden shares, a type of share with special voting- or other rights, could be used as a tool to preserve an entity’s social mission. In this blog, we discuss voting trusts and voting agreements as another mission-anchoring mechanism for a tradition entity …
Mission Protection for Traditional Companies – Blog 1, Golden Shares
Mission-driven for-profit entrepreneurs often face the tough task of deciding how to balance mission protection with growth. In this blog series, we will explore how traditional corporate entities can anchor their mission in the corporate DNA. In the initial three posts, we will discuss mission-anchoring strategies including: golden or veto share; voting trusts or voting …
Women in the Law
It is common knowledge that women outnumber men in law school enrollment, but they aren’t sticking with the profession. While women are well represented at associate levels (approximately 46%), there is a sharp decline in the senior ranks. Only nineteen percent of equity partners are women. For every one hundred women promoted to partner, one …
A Leap forward for the Cooperative movement
As a cooperative attorney nothing is more exciting than stumbling on the odd article sharing a cooperative success story. Some days though, it’s more than the random, obscure news story, some days it’s an announcement that makes it feel like the movement is going mainstream. Today is one of those days. Today Evergreen Business Services …
PR: Francisca Pretorius Joins Firm Full Time
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 20, 2018 CONTACT: Jason R. Wiener 720.445.6860 jason@jrwiener.com www.jrwiener.com Linda D. Phillips 303.355.0401 linda@jrwiener.com www.jrwiener.com Francisca Pretorius Joins Firm Full Time Jason Wiener|p.c., a public benefit corporation, is pleased to announce that Francisca Pretorius has joined the firm in a full-time capacity. She will hold the dual roles of …
New Law: How investment in culture and people fosters innovation, collaboration and client service
Originally published on September 5, 2018 on Medium. How does a law firm, known largely as a stagnant institution, nurture a culture of trust, openness, entrepreneurship, resilience and collaboration? Read on to learn how we are liberating ourselves — from the clock and the obligations of client matters — to focus on the meaningful and necessary work of building …
Tax Advantages of Selling to a Worker Cooperative
Why Try a Worker Co-op Business owners should think carefully and develop a strategic plan for exiting a business. You, the business owner looking to sell, can leave your business by selling it to family members or third parties, merging it into a larger organization, selling it to employees through an employee stock ownership plan …
Corporate governance for stakeholders
My journey to the practice of law has not been linear. My sensitivity to injustice and inequality, on the other hand, has been a constant driver. I’ve always been in search of a solution, which led me to seek a deeper understanding of the systematic ways inequality has been ingrained into the fabric of society, …