If you’re building a house of almost any kind, you’d start with its frame. The same goes for building a company: A startup needs the right legal structure, especially to raise money. That’s the first step Chambliss Startup Group says a budding business should take.
Organized five years ago, Chambliss Startup Group numbers about a dozen lawyers under one of Chattanooga’s largest law firms, Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel. Put simply, its purpose is to meet the legal needs of entrepreneurs.
Startups’ legal needs do not end with the registration of a new corporation or limited liability company. Step two requires a new company to protect its intellectual property – the ideas, technology and techniques that are at the heart of many startups, according to Chambliss Startup Group.
Beyond office work, the group is a sustaining sponsor of Chattanooga business accelerator Co.Lab, and its lawyers provide dozens of pro bono hours each month to support Co.Lab activities, and they provide legal advice and services to participants in Co.Lab’s GigTank. Chambliss Startup Group lawyers also helped with parts of the curriculum for Co.Starters, the Chattanooga-based business development program, and they teach legal issues to participants in University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Veterans Entrepreneurship Program.
Q&A with Chambliss Startup Group Chairman Jason R. Mirmelstein