Kassim Legal is the MENA region’s leading boutique law firm for startups, entrepreneurs, and emerging companies having represented hundreds of venture-backed and technology-driven companies on various transactions. From company formations to venture capital financing to MENA and US expansions, Kassim Legal offers the best of both worlds, the personal touch and hands-on experience clients expect from a boutique firm coupled with the same quality and caliber of service as they would receive from a much larger firm.
Based in Jordan, we regularly operate across the world having successfully worked on hundreds of transactions in the United States, the United Kingdom, Holland, Belgium, Germany, France, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Egypt, and other jurisdictions. Kassim Legal is a globally recognized boutique law firm with unparalleled international and MENA related experience.
As the preferred boutique law firm for representing startups, emerging companies, and entrepreneurs, Kassim Legal offers a full range of services which includes:
- Company Formations
- Venture Capital & Private Equity Financing
- Shareholding Structure
- MENA Expansion & Registration
- US Expansion & Registration
- Executive & Employee Compensation
- Intellectual Property
- International Tax
- Board & Corporate Governance
A Guide for Growth, Scale, and Expansion
Having successfully worked on hundreds of venture-backed transactions, we understand the unique needs of technology driven startups and emerging companies. Startups and emerging companies need to be able to grow, and to grow quickly, while remaining flexible and nimble to respond to changes in market conditions. While we offer a much wider range of services for startups and emerging companies, below are what we find to be the most pressing issues faced by entrepreneurs.
- Company Formations
- Shareholding Structure
- People & IP
Company Formations: Where to register your corporate entities
This is often one of the most pressing issues faced by entrepreneurs. The jurisdiction that one selects will impact how their company is structured. Not all jurisdictions are well suited for registering venture-backed or technology startups. Registering in the wrong jurisdiction can be detrimental to a new emerging startup company.
Further complicating this issue is the availability of a near endless number of choices ranging from the more established jurisdictions like the United Kingdom and the United States, to one of the popular offshore island jurisdictions, to one of the free zone jurisdictions located in MENA. Each jurisdiction has its own pros and cons and selecting the right jurisdiction is not always an obvious and mechanical exercise. We work with emerging companies and startups to help them determine the most beneficial jurisdiction and structure based on their needs and long term goals.
Whether you have already registered in one of these locations, it may be worth a review to determine the best option for you long-term.
Shareholding Structure: How to structure your shareholding, investments, and corporate governance
After selecting the optimal jurisdiction to register your company, our second guiding principle is to determine how to structure an emerging company’s shareholding, investments, and corporate governance. Here the startup has to determine how its shares will be distributed among the founders, how the company will be managed, and how it should raise capital and under what terms.
Answering these questions requires a fine tuned balancing act to ensure that all vested stakeholders in the startup, whether they are the founders, the investors, or the employees of the startup, continue to have their interests aligned. A common issue among startups is that the founders often give up too much equity in their business to early-stage investors. This can be detrimental to both the startup and the investor because while the investor has a larger stake in the company, the founder, that the investor has entrusted to manage the company, may have less of a vested interest in continuing to manage the company. Continuously bargaining for better deal terms for one set of stakeholders often has diminishing returns for all involved.
At Kassim Legal, we have the experience to help you structure your company, its shareholding, and future investment in a manner that ensures continued growth.
People & IP: How to protect and incentivize your most valuable assets
Our final guiding principle is how to retain, grow, and protect your most valuable assets. For the vast majority of emerging companies and startups those assets are typically its talent (i.e. the people) and intellectual property.
At Kassim Legal, we help emerging startup companies retain and incentivize their most talented personnel while protecting the long term goals of the startup, its investors, and other stakeholders. Our legal team has experience advising startups on executive compensation, including stock options and other forms of equity compensation.
As for protecting a company’s intellectual property, we adopt a practical approach that takes into account the reality of protecting intellectual property rights even if those rights are registered. A common issue many startups face is whether to patent or trademark their intellectual property and when would be the ideal time to do so.
At Kassim Legal we regularly work with clients to develop a robust intellectual property strategy that maximizes the company’s long-term value.
Contact Us
At Kassim Legal, we have extensive experience working with emerging startup companies. Our legal team has worked with some of the most innovative technology and growth companies. As MENA’s most experienced boutique law firm representing venture-backed companies, we have served on hundreds of transactions that include entrepreneurs starting new businesses, advising on company formations, equity structures, capital raises, protecting intellectual property rights, and other vital issues.
Client Testimonials
“One of the best firms for startups: from registration to structuring employee-stock options to robust shareholders agreements and meeting all the due diligence requirements during fundraising, Kassim Legal was instrumental to our journey.”
-RK
“My investors and I were in a deadlock for months over the valuation cap to use for my company. Kassim Legal was invaluable in helping us resolve the deadlock into a workable solution that benefited the company and the investors.”
-AR
“The only boutique firm I have worked with that can seamlessly work in multiple jurisdictions across the world. Small but as effective as many of the mega-firms in representing startups.”
-MI
“I don’t believe there is a better firm in MENA to work with if you have a startup or emerging company. Their knowledge in this space is unmatched.”
-TA