One of the joys of my job is to see people giving entrepreneurism a go and then discover they’re actually making it work.  I am (VERY GRADUALLY) reaching the age where a lot of the efforts of my contemporaries are starting to bear some fruit. Perhaps most of all, however, I take particular pride in lawyers who utilize their law degree effectively yet do generate innovations well-beyond traditional practice. (For the record, I am, unofficially, the first person in my law school class to ditch lawyering.)  Of course, my own decision to abandon things like “justice” and “equity” were 100% was made to in order to embrace the obviously more noble profession of coddeling and feeding wealthy people . . . Personally, I don’t have a comment on that particular point right now. It isn’t – uh – relevant…

So I am highlighting two of my fellow Emory Law graduates whose companies that I believe are both intelligent and – yes – cool:

Chios Global, Inc.

Chios Global was recently co-founded by Elliot Schuler, Emory Law ’01, to plug a major hole in the use of law firm services by major companies.  He and his co-founders noticed that glaring inefficiencies, cost overruns and accountability concerns are created when certain companies hire one firm to cover all of the issues that most large companies encounter.  For many general counsels of these companies, a complex analysis of the costs and effectiveness of such services is also difficult to achieve. Answer: an entreprenurial solution…

For international companies who have U.S. issues, but only a fleeting experience with the U.S. legal system, these potential cost overruns and management questions even more likely. That is where Chios Global steps to the plate. Not only do they help companies analyze the cost-effectiveness of their current legal representation, but they assist entities in locating appropriate counsel based on an individualized jurisdictional analysis.  In other words, they literally fold together time, space and COSTS into something vastly more effective – particularly for foreign entities.

Furthermore, they are an interesting resource for local law firms with particular practices or areas of jurisdictional expertise.  By matching these firms with groups from outside their own jurisdiction, Chios acts as a surrogate marketer. In the everyone benefits - It’s a win-win.

I will be following their progress with great interest.

IncNOW

When forming companies, it used to be that there were two options.  You could go to a law firm (and often it was difficult to know which) and pay big bucks for the formation and maintenance of these entities – all of which, in concept, should be a fairly straight-forward process.  Or you could go through Legalzoom or similar services (some good – some improving – some . . . Well, not so much). Those options too often merely offered cookie-cutter solutions with far too little real sensitivity as to the individual attributes of a unique business’s situation or the personalities and values of its founders.

John Williams, Emory Law ’01, and IncNOW bridge the gap between the commoditized process of entity management and the capability of providing complex legal advice. What makes them unique is that they can handle the mundane functions of legal work efficiently, at a reasonable cost AND also manage complexity and controversy. They’ve already handled front-page projects (for example, incorporating Pinterest) and can deal with the ongoing process of annual filings – But maybe most importantly, they effective invene when it comes to those controversies that too often engulf even the most well-intentioned companies.

Additionally, the business has been Delaware owned and operated since 1974 and the management of the company has passed smoothly to Mr. Williams, who is, in his own right, a nationally recognized Delaware attorney. This group has been and will continue to be in it for the long haul   I like the fact that they have had actual boots on the ground in Delaware for almost 40 years and have been at the forefront of online incorporation services since the beginning of the internet.

On that note, look forward to more entrepreneurial profiles going forward.