ChicagoErika R. Knierim
Helping clients harness blockchain, AI, and quantum responsibly.
Erika R. Knierim is a Partner at Founders Law, where she advises founders, investors, and technology companies across software, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and quantum computing, from formation and governance through financings, acquisitions, and exit.
As outside general counsel, Erika serves as the primary legal advisor for many of her clients, handling entity formation, cap table design, capital raises, and commercial contracts while coordinating with specialists as needed. She also represents angels, syndicates, and venture funds, with an emphasis on practical governance and investor protections.
Erika is among a small number of attorneys nationally with a dedicated quantum computing practice, advising quantum technology companies, research spinouts, and institutional investors on formation, IP licensing, data security, and the evolving regulatory landscape.
Before entering transactional practice, she served as an Assistant Public Defender in Cook County, where she tried more than 300 bench and jury trials, and later advised on portfolio and wealth strategy at William Blair. She brings a rare combination of courtroom judgment and capital-markets perspective to every client engagement.
Outside the firm, Erika is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of TECHNĒ Chicago, an art x tech summit at the intersection of emerging technology and culture.
What Erika works on
Commercial & Technology Contracts
Agreements that sit at the core of how companies sell and scale.
Learn more →Education
- J.D.Loyola University Chicago School of Law
- B.S.University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Bar admissions
- Illinois Bar
Previously
- Celsius Network
- William Blair
- Cook County Public Defender
Representative matters
- Advised a client on a complex entity spinout and conversion, including intracompany restructuring, IP transfer, and post-conversion governance arrangements.
- Led a hard-tech company through a contested IP negotiation and concurrent Series Seed equity financing, resolving the IP dispute pre-litigation and closing the financing on favorable terms.
- Advising a multi-entity apparel company on subsidiary formation, entertainment division structuring, and celebrity endorsement and partnership arrangements.
- Serve as outside general counsel to a biotech-focused venture fund, advising on fund formation, portfolio company investments, and ongoing governance matters.