About DJL Corporate Law
DJL Corporate Law is a boutique law firm providing business legal services to investment funds, companies and entrepreneurs, from a platform that permits customization of our services for each clients’ unique needs. We provide high quality legal services with efficiency, personal attention, and loyalty to our clients.
We partner with our clients to personalize our services. All of our attorneys have served as partners in large Silicon Valley law firms and/or in-house general counsels for public and private corporations. We have deep experience providing practical legal advice focused on helping our clients achieve their strategic goals. With our consistent high responsiveness and availability, we aim to meet our clients’ needs in timing and efficiency, and often act as an out-sourced “office of general counsel” for our company clients.
DJL Corporate Law serves early and later stages companies, entrepreneurs and investors, including venture capital, private equity and strategic investment firms. Since the firm was founded in 2008, we have formed and represented clients in strategic transactions, successive financing events and exits (typically through M&A transactions with public companies). Our areas of practice combine the range of activities required of a general counsel and a full-service law firm.
We’re Different
We are proud to be different than other firms. We embrace technological innovation and focus on the needs of clients embracing new growth opportunities. As former law firm partners and in-house lawyers, we have built a firm where we meet our clients’ unique needs and expectations with state of the art technological support and a wide network of expert resources, addressing many of the concerns that in-house attorneys have regarding legal services.
Our Services
Efficient
As former general counsels, we understand the importance of scaling our service to our clients’ needs, recognizing that legal issues exist within broader corporate strategic goals. Our focus is on how we can best serve our clients, and our advice is driven by our clients’ goals and is the right “size” for the project.
Tailored
We value the opportunity to work with clients to establish processes and systems to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of regular transactions. We invest the time our clients need to create systems to manage a large number of investments, acquisitions and other types of transactions – which drives efficiency and helps ensure consistent terms across transactions.
Scalable
We have extensive relationships with many U.S. and international law firms, and we partner with subject matter experts when our clients require specialized advice. Unlike larger firms, which are beholden to their own lawyers regardless of the fit, we enlist the most appropriate partner for the client, whether based on cost or expertise.
Experienced
All of our attorneys have decades of experience practicing at top-tier technology law firms and as in-house lawyers. Unlike firms with a traditional pyramid approach, all our services are provided by highly skilled and experienced lawyers who have deep business experience to provide optimal business and legal advice.
Areas of Practice
EMERGING GROWTH AND TECHNOLOGY CLIENTS
Our core practice focuses on emerging high technology companies. We routinely assist clients with company formation and governance, team building, form contract strategy, reincorporation, and an array of human resource and business agreements, as these new companies launch their businesses.
COMPANY FINANCINGS
We assist company clients in capital raising transactions and strategic partnerships. We have closed thousands of angel and venture capital financings over the course of our careers. We approach all capital raising transactions with a view toward efficiency of time and cost.
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Our clients have recommended us often for our efforts in assisting them in their most difficult negotiations, including M&A matters. We assist companies on both sides of M&A transactions, representing clients in numerous transactions, with a special focus on private to public acquisitions.
INVESTMENTS
We advise and negotiate all aspects of investments by our venture capital, private equity and corporate investment clients, including due diligence review and financing documentation. Our approach for corporate and strategic investors addresses both the economic and strategic needs of our clients.
CORPORATE AND SECURITIES LAW
With a primary focus on corporate and securities laws, we provide support in a wide range of corporate and securities transactions, as well as advice on corporate governance and board fiduciary matters.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Assisting clients with their commercial transactions is an important part of our practice. We have specialists we partner with to provide advice regarding intellectual property protection issues. We work to assure that our clients have appropriate coverage of their most valuable assets.
The Company
Deborah J. Ludewig
Founder and Legal Counsel
Deborah J. Ludewig founded DJL Corporate Law in February 2008. Prior to founding DJL Corporate Law, Deborah practiced at several large law firms based in Silicon Valley and has been a partner at K&L Gates, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and Cooley Godward (now Cooley LLP). She has worked with hundreds of companies in corporate formations, venture capital financings, joint ventures, public and private offerings, merger and acquisition transactions and as special advisor on board and governance matters. Deborah’s experience includes serving as a general counsel of an internet start-up and as an expert witness on matters involving corporate law and fiduciary duties.
Deborah currently works with private and public companies on a range of projects typically managed by a general counsel. She has supported early stage clients engaged in financing and team building matters and late stage companies in negotiating strategic commercial agreements and supervising the growth of IP portfolios. Her collaboration network includes her contacts and former colleagues in several large firms as well as specialists in a wide array of practices around the country.
Deborah is a frequent speaker and educator on topics relevant to entrepreneurs and executives. She has developed governance seminars for board members and other educational programs of interest to entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Deborah is a faculty member of the Practicing Law Institute and Chair of the PLI’s annual program in San Francisco on Drafting Corporate Agreements. Deborah is member of the Board of Directors of the Silicon Valley Director’s Exchange, www.svdx.org, and formerly served as Chairman of its predecessor entity, the National Association of Corporate Directors, Silicon Valley Chapter.
Deborah has a history of supporting several nonprofit entities, including her prior services as a director and chairman of Girls for a Change (from 2002-2012) and her prior tenure as a board member of Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (now Watermark, from 1998-2007). For Deborah’s current activities (outside of DJL Corporate Law), please check the link to her personal website [Under Construction].
JD – 1991, Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley
BS – 1980, College of Notre Dame (summa cum laude)
Todd Murtha
Legal Counsel
Todd Murtha joined DJL Corporate law in 2016. Prior to joining DJL Corporate Law, Todd practiced in large law firms based in the Silicon Valley and served as in-house counsel and General Counsel at Silicon Valley technology companies. He has worked on hundreds of financing, M&A and commercial transactions, has set up and operated international subsidiaries, has overseen compliance for advertising and marketing programs and has managed privacy and data usage programs in multiple companies. He has led M&A efforts in-house as both the acquirer and the acquired company.
In addition to his legal background, Todd was Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Executive Officer of a 300+ person ecommerce company and founder of an HR services startup. Todd has extensive experience in corporate strategy, operations, organization and HR.
Todd currently works with private and public companies on a full range of projects typically managed by a general counsel, including mergers and acquisitions, financings and investments and commercial transactions.
Todd is currently the volunteer General Counsel for The Pat Tillman Foundation, a leader in providing educational opportunities to veterans and their families, and serves on the Steering Committee of the Samaritan House Worker Resource Center, which provides a safe location for day laborers to interact with employers and provides educational, career and nutritional/care information and support to day laborers in San Mateo.
JD – 1998, Harvard Law School (magna cum laude)
MA – 1995, Psychology, University of Minnesota
BA – 1990, University of Tulsa (summa cum laude)
Contact Us
Phone: 408.335.0660
Fax: 408.413.5500