Big firm experience. Boutique attention.

Matthew McElwee is the Founder and Managing Member of Founders Law. He advises founders, startups, growth-stage companies, and venture capital funds, taking a uniquely practical approach to any legal issue that affects his clients.

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In his role as outside corporate counsel, Matthew is the first and often single point of legal contact for his clients, working with specialist providers as-needed and advising his clients on a wide variety of corporate matters, including entity formation, commercial contracts, employee matters, and raising capital. As a founder, investor, and former operator, Matthew is uniquely familiar with entrepreneurship, company formation, and the acquisition and management of funding for startups.

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Matthew has worked at some the largest firms in Chicago, IL (Kirkland & Ellis; Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg; and McDonald Hopkins), but launched Founders in 2020 to tailor his approach and his rates to the early-stage startups that he loves to work with.

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Matthew earned his J.D., summa cum laude, from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2016 and his B.S. in Business Administration from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 2012.

Thomas Budnik is an associate attorney at Founders Law. He provides legal counsel to startups, founder teams, and growth-stage companies on a wide variety of corporate transactions.

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Tom began working at Founders in 2021 to build his practice in the Startup and Venture Capital space. He advises his clients on general corporate and transactional matters, including entity formation and incorporation, venture-backed financings, commercial contracting, and corporate governance. Prior to joining Founders, Tom worked as in-house counsel in the logistics industry and within the practice groups of other commercial law firms.

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Tom earned his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law in and his B.S. in Journalism from Butler University in Indianapolis. While attending law school, Tom served as the President and Treasurer of the Irish American Law Students Association. He was also a member of the Corporate Law Society and Cyber Security and Data Privacy Society and worked for the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic at the Law Offices of Chicago-Kent.

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Erika R. Knierim is a senior associate attorney at Founders Law, where she specializes in Emerging Technology. She joined the firm in September 2023, focusing on providing legal counsel to clients on a variety of corporate and transactional matters, including initial formation, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, and capital fundraising. Within the technology sector, Erika represents clients in the areas of blockchain, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and the Internet of Things.

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Erika brings invaluable experience to the firm, having worked with and in firms of all sizes, including startups from inception, international investment bank William Blair, and billion-dollar late-stage tech firms. Erika’s legal practice– and passion – is representing founders, entrepreneurs and visionaries –particularly those pushing the envelope on the capabilities of business and technology.

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Erika graduated from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign where she obtained her Bachelor of Science with dual degrees in Psychology and Germanic Languages and Literatures. She later earned her J.D. from Loyola University School of Law, where she was a member of the Latin American Law School Association and a Fellow and Captain of the Corboy Fellowship Program.

Sam Ziegler is an attorney in Founders Law’s Emerging Companies and Venture Capital group. Based in the firm's Denver + Boulder office, Sam provides legal counsel to start-ups across the Front Range and beyond. Creating value for founders and helping start-ups grow is the focus of his practice.  

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With a background in corporate transactions, Sam advises company founders on a wide range of issues, including initial formation, corporate governance, and financing through SAFEs, convertible notes, and priced rounds. He is also available to provide outside counsel support to businesses dealing with day-to-day legal issues.

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Prior to joining Founders Law, Sam began his legal career practicing private equity mergers and acquisitions law at Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago. Relevant to his focus on start-ups today, while at Kirkland, Sam had the opportunity to facilitate liquidity events for teams of founders who had reached the end of their journey, helping them sell their businesses to investment firms for hundreds of millions of dollars. After his time at Kirkland, Sam gained further experience in the world of early-stage companies while practicing smaller-scale private equity M&A in a Chicago-based boutique law firm.

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Sam has taught Business Law as an adjunct professor through Western Colorado University (as a concurrent enrollment course for students at the Denver School of Science and Technology). He is thrilled when his former students join him as interns (and perhaps future attorneys) at Founders Law.

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Sam earned his JD from the George Washington University Law School and his BA in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As part of his time in the world of education, Sam also earned a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Denver. While in law school, Sam published his research on US investment in Chinese companies, which has since been cited in reports to Congress and publications by a variety of institutional investors.

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Sam enjoys living in the West Highlands neighborhood of Denver with his wife and three young children. His favorite place in Colorado is the slopes of Beaver Creek. He loves nothing more than seeing the joy of his kids as they fall in love with skiing and rock climbing.

Hind Abdelaziz joined Founders Law in 2022 and works as a Associate Attorney for the firm.

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While at law school, Hind has been passionately learning about business and corporate law and is the first Legal Fund Analyst for the team developing the Illinois Institute of Technology's Genisys VentureImmersion Program at the Kaplan Institute where she supports students to succeed in entrepreneurship and the venture capital industry. Prior to joining Founders, Hind was selected for the Association of Corporate Counsel's Summer Intern Cohort and interned in-house at Brunswick Corporation where she assisted on a variety of corporate matters.  

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Hind graduated withher J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law in May 2023 and earned her B.A., magna cum laude, in both Economics and Philosophy from DePaul University in 2020.

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Terrence Budnik is the Firm Administrator for Founders Law LLC.

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Terrence's background includes a range of industries and roles that allows for him to provide insight to Founders, assisting with administration as well as growing the firm to its fullest potential.

Charlie Sommers joined Founders Law in 2023 and works as a Corporate Law Clerk for the firm.

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While getting dual degrees in law and business, Charlie has been enthusiastic about gaining a practical understanding of how these disciplines interact with each other. Beyond his law classes, his formative academic experiences have included preparing term sheets for venture capital funding at the Illinois Institute of Technology Kaplan Institute, and participating in the CFA Research Challenge, where he presented an equity research and valuation report to a panel of investment professionals. In addition to years of law clerk experience, Charlie interned at Muddy Waters Capital, contributing to extensive due diligence-based equity research at the hedge fund.

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Charlie will earn his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law and M.B.A. from the IIT Stuart School of Business in May 2024 and earned his B.A. in both Economics and Sociology from Boston College in 2021.

Neilton is a Legal Engineer at Founders Law focusing on process optimization by improving the firm's software, staying current with the latest technologies. His work provides support for Founders Law attorneys while ensuring that our clients receive efficient, precise, and cost-effective services by combining legal expertise with innovative technology.

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Neilton holds a Bachelor of Law from the University of Zurich and an LLM from Chicago-Kent College of Law. He is writing his master’s thesis to obtain a Master of International and Comparative Law at the University of Zurich. He has gained valuable experience working with law firms, startups, and venture capital firms on corporate law matters and technological solutions.

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At Founders Law, Neilton leverages his passion for entrepreneurial enterprises and innovation to streamline the firm’s operations.

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He also speaks English, German, French, and Spanish.

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