Mark Graffagnini is the founder and President of Silicon Bayou law firm Graffagnini, L.C. that is often recognized for its work with startups in the area. In June, the Graffagnini firm officially opened an office in the San Francisco Bay Area to better serve the growing client base nationally and internationally.
Graffagnini said the firm based its decision to open a bay area presence on two factors—current bay area clients are currently poised for major exits and growth and have taken investment from top VCs in recent times, and relationships with strategic partners of the firm in the bay area convinced us that the time was right.
“Our law firm has grown significantly in the past year,” Graffagnini explained to clients and friends in a recent email blast.
Graffagnini shared the news about additional hires, including new attorneys and Silicon Bayou News’ own editor Julia Ballard. She will serve as the client relations manager and head of marketing. With the growing team, the firm now offers services in real estate matters (including title insurance and title closing services through GW Title, LLC), real estate finance and tax credit matters and estate planning (e.g., wills, trusts, etc.).
A few other updates were noted as well. Perhaps most noticeably, the name of the firm was formally changed in 2014 to Graffagnini, A Law Corporation (Graffagnini, L.C.). Graffagnini said it signals a shift in the firm’s structure from an LLC to a law corporation in order to make the national expansion easier.
The firm plans to open several additional offices in the nation’s entrepreneurial hubs, and it plans to be the first national firm to have an office in most of the core startup markets in the United States of America, according to the email.
“Our knowledge and relationships in the various growth capital markets of the country uniquely position the firm to provide an elevated level of service to companies and investors seeking the best opportunities,” Graffagnini explained. “We want to fundamentally change the way early stage companies and investors access legal knowledge because that is our passion. We think we can accomplish that with our model.”