Hartford Business Journal

16 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARY 5, 2024 an experienced attorney, their de facto "general counsel," along with a more junior lawyer, their "deputy general counsel," and a paralegal. The attorneys provide services from corporate housekeeping to reporting requirements for public companies, based on a pre-negoti- ated fee structure. Tier one, which includes basic services for startups such as corpo- rate governance and equity plan administration, typically costs a few thousand dollars a month. Tier two includes full outsourced general counsel services, typically involving employment work, real estate and intellectual property. Costs can range from $8,000 a month to $40,000 a month. Tier three includes a variety of services and is geared toward publicly traded companies with reporting requirements that typically cost at least $8,000 to $10,000 per month. In addition, clients can purchase a-la-carte services outside the scope of the tiered packages, such as litigation support. The firm also provides counsel for mergers and acquisitions. Fee structure Goldilo(x) was developed with cost-sensitive small businesses in mind, Wiggin and Dana said. Because of the fixed-fee structure, clients can ask their attorneys ques- tions without the fear of racking up expenses. "We're sort of getting rid of the stigma that the meter is running," Sousa said. "We want clients to be calling us, we want to be coun- seling them in real time." During price negotiations, the firm takes into account what an early- stage company can actually afford. "If a client says, 'Hey, we can only afford x per month,' then we thoughtfully try to reverse engineer and say, 'OK, we can allocate these people and this much time,'" Sousa said. "We have an algorithm that we've created internally that we use to set meaningful pricing that works for the client." Wiggin and Dana does not take equity stakes for legal services in lieu of cash payment. "I think it's important for your legal counsel to have an indepen- dent analysis that is not tied to any shareholder or membership stake," Sousa said. According to Thomson Reuters, law firms on the West Coast have been investing in clients for years, which raises questions about the ethical issues and business risks involved. Goldilo(x) attorneys typically immerse themselves in the company culture and attend board meetings — while maintaining an arm's length, knowing they are not actual employees. They help with stock plans, regulatory filings, employment agreements and commercial contract work. Wiggin and Dana also represents larger companies that use goldi- lo(x) services to secure an interim general counsel during a tran- sition from one in-house lawyer to another. Tech companies Sousa, who co-founded goldilo(x) in September 2023, ran a boutique firm in Fairfield County before joining Wiggin and Dana with his team two years ago. He said a big part of what gold- ilo(x) brings to small companies, which often face a great deal of risk, is stability. The service is particularly attractive to bioscience and technology upstarts. Wiggin and Dana has helped several early-stage companies in Connecticut go public, including Branford-based IsoPlexis and New Haven-based RallyBio, which are both in the life sciences industry. Jodie Gillon, president and CEO of BioCT, an organization that represents the state's bioscience industry, said startups, at first, will usually outsource their legal needs. "You have so many facets of legal that need to be covered from compliance, to IP, to safety, to investors, employment law, to deals, that it's virtually impossible to find one attorney who is an expert in the strategy of it all," Gillon said. However, when a company reaches a point where it has more than one product or trial, it may be ready to hire a general counsel, who then directs addi- tional work to outside counsel. "You want to progress a bit and have enough funding," Gillon said. "It's an expensive hire, and typically a firm will bring on a CFO first." Wiggin and Dana's growth Sousa said Wiggin and Dana's emerging company practice has experienced significant growth for more than four years. "It's one of our biggest reve- nue-drivers in the firm," he said. "We're doing, I think, 20% growth year-over-year in each of the last few years." Sousa said he attributes that growth to an increasing number of early-stage companies in the region — many of which have become so successful that their legal needs expand, too. He said the amount of work the firm is doing for key clients has also increased. "The firm is growing up and down the East Coast, so it's a pretty exciting time," Sousa said. Jodie Gillon

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