About Us
We founded Global Capital to integrate legal and strategic counsel to provide more comprehensive counsel to innovative companies, around the world, that disrupt or respond to disruption. We try to avoid the usual price & pomp of most law firms and consulting firms.
We created a small, nimble and fast professional counsel firm. On the law side we focus on corporate and commercial law. On the strategic consulting side we focus on rapidly implementing plans that have measurable results in a short period. Nothing else.
Global Capital has a core of legal and strategic consulting professionals with a larger network of specialists in jurisdictions around the world. Our teams only include lawyers and strategists with more than two decades of experience and with most of it for technology clients. Every professional speaks at least one other language, with extensive international experience.
If you want fancy offices and lawyers who look great in expensive outfits, we're not for you. We're here to work--not to impress for the wrong reasons.
James C. Roberts III
Founder (Legal)
CEO (Strategic)
Milan | Los Angeles
Education
- JD
- University of Chicago
- MA
- Stanford University
- BS
- University of California, Berkeley
Some Engagements
- Served as “Coordinating counsel” in transnational $8 million M&A transaction with scaleups
- Negotiated and drafted all relevant agreements for Google VR project
- Negotiated seed and angel term sheets and investment agreements ranging from $75,000 to $300,000 for multiple European startups
- Advised blockchain venture capital fund on investment selection
- Served as interim general counsel for artificial intelligence company, negotiating tech license agreements and investment rounds
- Negotiated sale of Italian startup to US company
- Served as interim general counsel, drafting & managing all “base” agreements for multiple startups and scaleups & managing outside counsel
- Mentored 150+ EU startups on raising capital, international expansion and commercialization
- Advised startup on Eastern European expansion and subsidiaries and negotiated related agreements
- Negotiated and drafted agreements for B2B platform scaleup with multinational music corporations
- Advised on Series A funding for mobile game development startup
- Advised US subsidiary on VC investment in non-US parent
Some Resources
- Monkey Selfies and London Red Buses (article)
- OOPS I lost our IP and a billion dollars (for Bocconi course)
- OOPS. You're term sheet is a contract (article)
- VC Interest in VR (video)
- Distribution Agreements Are Software Hamburgers or Subscriptions (article)
- Farmers Google Drive and New Jargon (article)
- Goodbye Professor Scalia
- License Agreements Clown Cars, Imaginary Licenses and Other Concerns (article)
- Negotiating SaaS Agreements is like Pounding Square Pegs into Round Holes (article)
- Oddball Drafting (article)
Practice Areas/Expertise
- Legal & strategic counsel for startups, scaleups and VCs on financing & transactions
- Virtual/Augmented Reality
- Artificial Intelligence
- SaaS/PaaS
- Media
- Blockchain
- Platforms/marketplaces
- Cleantech
- M&A
- Strategic alliances
- International expansion
- Interim general counsel
James provides legal and strategic counsel to clients who create, finance or integrate disruptive tech, including small startups to the largest MNCs. He advises these clients on mergers & acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, licensing, intellectual property and international markets in the US, Europe and Asia.
For example, James negotiated the deal for one of the first VR titles for Google; the first software licenses for the Peanuts characters and other properties such as The Flintstones; and several of the first SaaS deals.
Previously, he founded The Atlantic Advisory Group, a strategic consulting firm advising technology companies on transborder M&A and expansion. Earlier he was at SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute), conducting strategic analysis in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
James is admitted to practice by the State Bar of California. He “commutes” between California and Milan, Italy.
Languages
- English
- French
- Italian (intermediate)
Interests
Skiing, snow-shoeing, kayaking, reading, writing, art
Professional Involvement
- Creative Media & Behavioral Health Center, University of Southern California, Steering Committee
- Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum, Director Emeritus
- Startup Mentor, various startup/accelerator programs
- Former Chair and Vice Chair, Licensing Committee/Interest Group, State Bar of California
- Columnist “The Licensing Corner” New Matter Intellectual Property Section, State Bar of California, 2012-2016
- Lecturer, Bocconi University, Pepperdine University School of Law
Cristina Manasse
Milan
Education
- Laurea
- (Italian JD), University of Milan
- MA
- Intellectual Property Academy, Bocconi University, Milan
- Post-graduate degrees in EU Law & Economics, University of Milan
Semester at Kings College, London
Some Engagements
- Prepared all documents for corporate structure of a gallery and drafted all agreements for its activity
- Drafted and negotiated all agreements for an art fair, included the on line sale of artworks.
- Negotiated all agreements for VR content development company
- Advised on import/export issues for artworks in private collection
- Advised museum on digitization and commercialization strategy and drafted and negotiated all agreements
- Represented photographer in global protection of copyright.
- Helped form collectors platform startup, negotiated corporate structure and distribution/sale agreements
- Advised private collector on valorization of large archive
- Advised a media company for production of a program
- Advised company for the protection of a TV format
Practice Areas/Expertise
- Transactional IP (license agreements)
- Virtual/Augmented Reality
- Digital advertising
- Artists' IP rights
- IP for galleries, collectors & museums
- Legal matters for artfairs
- International IP matters
Cristina, Italian counsel for Global Capital, specializes in commercial law, art and photography law and intellectual property. In commercial and corporate law, she drafts and negotiates agreements relating to mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, international distribution and licensing, terms of use and privacy policies.
In art and culture law, Cristina advises participants in the art world on all legal issues related to art and photography law, and intellectual property (e.g., licensing, restitution, digitization, exhibitions, purchase & sale, inheritance, title & provenance, forgeries and IP rights protection) and also on digital matters and business models. She advises private and institutional collectors, museums, art galleries, auction houses, cultural organizations, artists, fair organizers and sponsors, media & broadcasting companies and publishers.
She has lectured at numerous conferences and universities, including the University of Milan where she also served for several years as a teaching lecturer, and she has published many articles on art and IP law issues. Cristina is member of the faculty of the ASK Centre (Art, Science and Knowledge) of Bocconi University, as a specialist for art law and intellectual property law.
Languages
- Italian
- English
- Spanish
- Basic French and German
Interests
Art, reading, writing
Professional Involvement
- Lecturer, Bocconi University and Bocconi ASK Center (Art, Science & Knowledge)
- Startup Mentor, various startup/accelerator programs
- Former Chair and Vice Chair, International Bar Association, Art, Cultural Institutions & Heritage Committee
- Former Italian representative of the European Lawyers Association
- Columnist “The Licensing Corner” New Matter Intellectual Property Section, State Bar of California
Richard M. Gee
Boulder | Los Angeles
Education
- JD
- Loyola University
- BA
- University of California, Los Angeles
Some Engagements
- Represented call center technology platform company in all regulatory inquiries
- Drafted numerous privacy policies and terms of use for US digital companies
- Advised marijuana growers and dispensaries on corporate and regulatory matters
- Advised AI startup on trademarks and trademark strategy
- Drafted various agreements for social media corporation
- Drafted settlement agreement between tech startup and telecom provider
Practice Areas/Expertise
- Medtech/biotech
- Artificial intelligence
- Platforms/marketplaces
- Cleantech
- M&A
- Strategic alliances
Richard, of counsel to Global Capital, specializes in business acquisitions, mergers and acquisitions, with expertise in venture and equipment financing and related documentation as well as shareholder, partnership, joint tenancy and LLC operating agreements. His expertise also includes intellectual property acquisition, disposition, licensing, clearance and registration as well as entertainment contracts. A native Spanish speaker, Richard has represented several Latin-American companies in business matters both in the United States and in Latin America. He most recently served as Business Affairs Manager for Univision Music Group, the largest Latin music label. He is admitted to practice law in California And Colorado.
Languages
- English
- Spanish
Interests
Celtic music, reading, writing, art
Professional Involvement
- The Gilpin Foundation, Vice Chair
- Celtic Regional Arts Institute of California, former Chair
- Gilpin Ambulance Authority, Secretary/Treasurer