Toronto-based business law firm Dentons Canada LLP has unveiled its Dentons Canada Startup Program to provide affordable and flexible legal advice to Canadian startup companies. The multinational firm had already been working with several startups in Ontario and now looks to consolidate those services into a single, low-cost offering.
The firm has provided legal advice to venture-backed companies and venture capital investors, has acted for many of Canada’s leading startups, and has supported some of the biggest tech startup ventures in Canadian history. It’s calling the new program “a sophisticated approach to providing legal services to the newest generation of Canadian entrepreneurs.”
“We know that startups are lean on cash, but they still need legal support to get off the ground and get their product to market. Our program gives them the benefit of a highly experienced global team and our bank of legal resources, on a cost-deferred, fixed fee basis,” said program director Andre Garber.
The program will provide startups with their own portal online, which includes legal advice, documents, and hookups into Dentons’ network of venture capitalist investors, advisory board members, and tech industry executives. The firm has offices across Canada and in global technology hubs including Silicon Valley, San Francisco, New York, Boston and Berlin. According to IT Business, the program’s legal fees are heavily discounted, but Garber couldn’t specify how much they cost.
Startups can also gain access to Dentons’ Intellectual Property practice, a “value-add for mobile technology and life sciences startups looking to go global.” Meanwhile TechStartupCenter.com is a popular on-line resource for tech startups, which covers a practical and legal topics for entrepreneurs, startups, executives and investors active in the technology space.
“Dentons has a long history of supporting Canadian technology companies, including important advocacy on tax changes to jumpstart foreign investment in Canadian technology companies by Tom Houston,” said John Reid, president of the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA). “This new initiative by Dentons focused on startups further confirms Dentons’ commitment to innovation in Canada.”