FLIGHTLINE LAW PLLC
Independent Legal Counsel for Founders and CEOs
Who we represent
Most legal counsel in the venture ecosystem represents companies, boards, or investors.
Flightline Law represents the people who lead them.
Founders and CEOs are the leaders of their enterprises. They build, they sacrifice, they work to align interest with stakeholders. At times, founders and CEOs also face moments when their interests and the company's interests diverge. A board dispute. A compensation negotiation. A governance crisis. In those moments, the company's general counsel represents the entity, not the founders & CEOs.
Flightline Law fills that gap, providing privileged, one-on-one legal counsel dedicated to the founder and CEO.
Every engagement is protected by attorney-client privilege, enabling the candid, confidential advice that high-stakes leadership decisions require.
Our services
CEOCounsel
Independent Legal Counsel for Founders and CEOs
Most legal counsel in the venture ecosystem represents companies, boards, or investors. CEOCounsel represents the people who lead them. If times when your interests and the company's interests diverge, the company's general counsel represents the entity, not you. CEOCounsel fills that gap.
Every engagement is protected by attorney-client privilege, enabling the candid, confidential conversations that high-stakes leadership decisions require.
What It Covers
Common engagement topics include:
board dynamics and fiduciary duties
CEO compensation and employment agreements
equity structure and stock-based compensation,
founder conflicts
strategic advice on critical operational decisions
How We Work
Two engagement models: Hourly Consultation (scheduled online) for time-based counsel without ongoing commitment, and Monthly Retainer Representation for an ongoing counsel relationship with priority access and preferred pricing on project engagements.
Typical clients include first-time CEOs navigating VC-backed boards, founder-CEOs who no longer control their boards, professional CEOs in PE-backed companies, and executives facing complex employment or equity negotiations.
Go Deeper: CEOCounsel blog
The issues CEOCounsel addresses: board dynamics, equity disputes, governance conflicts, compensation negotiations, are covered in practical detail on the CEOCounsel blog, written from the operator's perspective by people who have navigated them firsthand.
Risk Assessment
Assessment of the Personal Exposure of a Founder or CEO
Typical risk assessments are commissioned by boards or companies and delivered to boards or companies. The findings reflect the entity's interests, not yours.
This assessment is different. It is commissioned by you, delivered to you, and protected by attorney-client privilege throughout. The findings belong to you, not your board, not your investors, and not your company's general counsel.
What It Covers
Personal Liability Exposure. Analysis of your fiduciary duties, indemnification agreements, and potential personal liability arising from company decisions. Most CEOs assume their indemnification agreement protects them fully. It often doesn't. Understanding where the gaps are before a dispute arises is significantly less expensive than discovering them during one.
Employment Agreement Gaps. Review of your compensation structure, severance provisions, change-of-control protections, and equity treatment. Employment agreements negotiated at hire are rarely revisited until something goes wrong. By then, the leverage to fix them is gone.
Equity Structure Risks. Evaluation of vesting schedules, acceleration triggers, liquidation preferences, and economic outcomes under various exit scenarios. Founders who haven't modeled their cap table under a range of exit scenarios are frequently surprised by the math when it matters most.
Insurance Adequacy. Assessment of D&O coverage for individual fiduciaries, personal umbrella policies, and gaps in protection. D&O insurance is purchased by the company, for the company. Individual coverage gaps are common and rarely visible until a claim is filed.
How We Work
A Risk Assessment is a project-based engagement delivering a comprehensive written evaluation with prioritized mitigation recommendations. All work product is privileged. Findings are presented directly to you in a confidential review session.
The right time for a Risk Assessment is before a financing, before an acquisition process, before a governance conflict escalates, or at any moment when you want a clear-eyed view of where you stand personally.
Special Counsel
Strategic Litigation Support for Management Disputes
When a governance conflict escalates into litigation, founders and CEOs need more than a litigator. They need someone who understands the business dynamics underneath the legal dispute.
Flightline Law provides special counsel services for management disputes involving termination, squeeze-outs, and governance conflicts. We work alongside your trial counsel, not instead of them, bringing business judgment and operating experience to inform and sharpen courtroom strategy.
What It Covers
Strategic Litigation Assessment. Comprehensive case analysis, evidence mapping, legal claims evaluation, and litigation strategy development. Before committing to litigation, founders and CEOs benefit from an independent assessment of where they stand.
Deposition Strategy. Witness identification, knowledge mapping, and question outline development. We help trial counsel understand the business context that shapes the right questions.
Settlement Positioning. Economic modeling, pressure point identification, and demand letter development. We build the analytical foundation that supports credible, well-positioned settlement demands.
Capital Structure Translation. Analysis of complex financial instruments and economic incentives underlying the dispute. Governance conflicts in venture and PE-backed companies frequently involve preferred stock, convertible instruments, option pools, and liquidation waterfalls. We translate that complexity into clear strategic and legal terms.
Expert Witness Services. Testimony on business practices, financial instruments, and governance standards. When disputes require expert perspective on how companies actually operate, how boards actually function, or how financial instruments actually work in practice, we provide testimony grounded in real operating experience.
How We Work
Special counsel engagements are billed hourly or on a project basis depending on scope. We integrate directly with your trial counsel team, providing the business intelligence and operational context that strengthens advocacy in complex management disputes.
About FLIGHTLINE LAW PLLC
Flightline Law PLLC is a boutique law firm providing independent legal counsel for founders and CEOs. Unlike traditional firms organized around corporate representation, Flightline Law represents the individuals who lead companies.
We bring operating experience alongside legal training. We have sat in the CEO chair, negotiated term sheets, managed boards, and built companies. That background informs how we counsel clients, not as outside observers, but as practitioners who understand both the law and the business dynamics underneath it.
Engagements are protected by attorney-client privilege, enabling the candid, confidential conversations that high-stakes leadership decisions require. We represent clients nationwide where jurisdictional requirements permit.
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