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Leslie Weiss
OVERVIEW

Leslie J. Weiss

Of Counsel (Retired)

Leslie Weiss advised on commercial transactions, general corporate representation and securities law matters for businesses and financial services companies of all sizes. She focused on helping entrepreneurs build, finance, acquire and sell their companies.

OVERVIEW

Leslie Weiss advised on commercial transactions, general corporate representation and securities law matters for businesses and financial services companies of all sizes. She focused on helping entrepreneurs build, finance, acquire and sell their companies.

Leslie’s clients included fast-growth, technology, financial services, medical device, internet-based, communications and publicly traded companies. Throughout her career, she served as outside general counsel and primary legal adviser for numerous clients. Her experience included the representation of private and public companies, both domestic and international, in their general corporate and securities work. She has led teams on both the buy and sell sides for numerous mergers and acquisitions.

In addition to M&A, Leslie advised on various types of capital-raising transactions, venture capital transactions and angel rounds. She represented clients in numerous venture rounds, with multiple venture firms located in various parts of the country participating in each round. Her experience was primarily on the company side, but included fund representation as well. In addition, Leslie advised on private and public offerings and 1934 Act securities compliance filings. She also assisted her clients with complex intellectual property licensing deals.

Notably, many of the transactions in which she has been involved were international in scope, where she represented both U.S. and non U.S. participants in these deals.

Leslie represented many clients from the startup phase through their ultimate exit, handling multiple financing rounds and acquisitions and providing general corporate counseling as their legal needs expanded and became more complex. Leslie attended, and guided clients involved in, board meetings and understands the complexities of the relationships between founders and sophisticated investors. She was dedicated to serving as an instrumental adviser when helping clients plan business expansions, which often involves significant restructuring and recapitalization of their entities.

These experiences gave Leslie a deep understanding of the needs of growing businesses, the impact the different interests of management and the boards of companies have on those businesses, and the steps a business must take to prepare for a successful exit.

Throughout her career, Leslie represented participants in the financial services industry, including broker-dealers, investment advisers, hedge funds proprietary trading firms and futures industry participants. She advised such clients regarding regulatory compliance, capital raising transactions, acquisitions and dispositions, as well as on the issues raised by regulatory audits and enforcement actions, representing them before different regulatory agencies such as FINRA, NFA and various exchanges.

Professional and Community Involvement

Judge and coach, new businesses presented by MBA candidates and other entrepreneurs, University of Chicago Booth School of Business

EXPERIENCE
  • Sale of a medical device company based offshore to a publicly traded Chinese company for $100 million.
  • Establishment of two separate offshore joint ventures engaged in the development of medical devices.
  • Capital raising transactions with Chinese investors for off-shore clients.
  • Represented a public company in the sale of control to a private equity firm. Continued ongoing representation of the company after the sale.
  • Represented a public company in a $154 million bank financed corporate acquisition.
  • Represented the buyer in the purchase of a component manufacturer for defense products.
  • Represented several investment services companies in Series A and B capital funding rounds with high profile Silicon Valley firms. Rounds ranging from $15 to $25 million.
  • Represented the licensor in $35 million licensing deal, which followed a $50 million development contract.
  • Represented a technology company in a $30 Series E round and the purchase of a competing business. Represented the company in its Series A through Series D financing rounds prior to that.
  • Represented a technology company in a $25 million A Round with a Silicon Valley VC.
  • Formed and represented a commodity pool for an entrepreneurial sponsor that grew to just under 1 billion AUM.
  • Formed and represented an investment fund to capitalize a high frequency trading firm that is a significant player in the listed options market. Represented that same firm in the purchase control of an institutional options execution company.
  • Represented clients in various joint ventures for the establishment of broker-dealers.
  • Represented a derivatives focused brokerage firm from its formation to its sale to TD Ameritrade.
  • Represented a client in a complex multi-million dollar SEC action involving Regulation SHO.
  • Represented clients in regulatory matters involving the net capital rule.
  • Represented a client in an insider trading investigation by the SEC.
  • Represented a client in a high frequency trading investigation by the SEC.
  • Represents a company that operates a cryptocurrency exchange.
  • Represents a company that is setting up a new futures exchange.
  • Prepared customer and licensing agreements for a new financial services firm in the cryptocurrency space.
EXPERIENCE
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