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The law firmwe would have hired.

The speed of a modern business, the results of a big law firm.

We specialize in the middle market, where businesses pay too much for lawyers who don’t deliver.

How We’re Different

SBH was founded by lawyers and entrepreneurs who recognized that the traditional law firm model is broken, from inflated billable hours to poor client service.  Our partners have decades of experience in law and business. We trained in top global law firms, served as general counsel and built companies of our own.  We know what it’s like to be the client: to hire lawyers, manage them and pay their bills. We use that perspective to deliver practical, business-driven legal services.

Our practice is lean and efficient, with no bureaucracy and no unnecessary overhead.

We run on the same modern technology and processes we used in our own companies, with flexible billing — monthly, project-based, hourly or custom — because fees should reflect value, not hours.

Track Record

Billions of dollars in transactions and high-stakes litigation in technology, private equity, venture capital, labor & employment, entertainment, real estate, and other sectors.

What We’ve Done

Corporate & Transactional Work▾
General Corporate
  • Corporate and transaction counsel for a FinTech and payment processing company that was acquired by a public company for more than $100M
  • Corporate and transaction counsel for a private credit and equity investment firm with $50M+ assets under management
M&A, Finance & Private Equity
  • $500M+ in M&A transactions across the FinTech, payment processing, technology and other industries
  • $200M+ equity and debt raises for real estate industry clients
  • $100M+ in venture capital and private equity transactions, including investments in an English Premier League soccer club and technology companies
  • $900M+ in debt finance and security transactions across technology, FinTech, payment processing, hospitality, entertainment, energy and other industries
Joint Venture, Strategic Partnership & Other Transactions
  • $750M+ in entertainment industry transactions, including talent, vendor, production, IP and distribution deals
  • Purchase and lease agreements and strategic partnership agreements for major real estate clients
  • Customer, master services, reseller, technology and banking agreements for FinTech, technology, payment processing and hospitality industry clients
Litigation & Compliance Work▾
Business Litigation
  • Represented companies of all sizes in high stakes litigation, including securities, breach of contract, and intellectual property cases
  • Represented FinTech and payment processing companies in commercial litigation, including actions involving distribution, M&A and debt finance agreements and TCPA class actions
  • False Claims Act litigation for clients including a leading aerospace and defense contractor, a global pipe manufacturer and a public agency
  • Investigations and enforcement actions involving the FTC, SEC, DOJ and state attorneys general for multinational company clients
Labor & Employment Litigation
  • Represented Fortune 100 and financial services companies in trials and appeals involving labor, employment and other commercial claims, including successful jury verdicts and dismissals
  • Represented brand name consumer goods and agriculture companies in actions involving claims of discrimination, retaliation, harassment and hostile work environment
  • Represented Fortune 100 and mid-sized companies in litigation (including class actions and PAGA actions) involving ADA, wage and hour, discrimination, retaliation and harassment claims
Compliance Programs
  • Strategic counseling for clients on employment matters, contract interpretation, policy updates and corporate compliance and governance
  • Sales, marketing, customer support and export control compliance programs, including manuals, training and audits

Let’s talk about your business.

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Our expertise spans corporate governance, M&A, contracts, finance, business litigation, entertainment, media, real estate and labor and employment.

We become part of your team.  Our external general counsel practice delivers sophisticated, ongoing legal support.

External General Counsel

We partner with clients to deliver proactive and ongoing legal support without the cost of an inside legal department.

As founders and general counsels ourselves, we know what companies need from a legal department, and we fill that role without the cost of an internal legal team.  Most law firms react to distinct legal issues as clients raise them.  We’re different: we build and manage critical legal systems and deliver strategic, proactive and ongoing legal support that combines practical risk management with growth-minded strategies tailored to your business goals, minimizing risk and maximizing upside.

We handle corporate and fund governance, contracts, M&A, corporate transactions, compliance frameworks, dispute resolution and the other ongoing legal issues that arise in every business.  Our experience as lawyers and operators across technology, hospitality, entertainment, FinTech, payment processing and real estate positions us to anticipate and identify important legal issues early and solve them effectively.

Capabilities include:
  • Legal systems and infrastructure
  • Corporate and fund formation, structuring and governance
  • Contract administration and standardization
  • Dispute resolution and compliance frameworks
  • Operating agreements, partnership agreements and other corporate and shareholder matters
  • Customer agreements, vendor and supplier agreements, strategic partnership agreements and non-disclosure agreements
  • Employment agreements and independent contractor agreements
  • Corporate transactions, including M&A, finance, asset purchases, joint ventures, strategic partnerships, entertainment industry transactions and real estate deals
  • Disputes involving contracts, intellectual property, partnerships, M&A, finance, real estate, business torts, fraud and labor and employment

Commercial Contracts

We negotiate, structure and draft commercial agreements.

Contracts create, protect and enhance value.  We understand the business realities behind every agreement, bring real-world expertise in all kinds of contracts that make businesses work, and structure each one to minimize legal exposure and maximize commercial goals.

We also help clients build scalable contract systems, standardize templates and implement review processes that accelerate contract cycles and enhance the value of every agreement.  Our business and legal experience across technology, hospitality, entertainment, FinTech, payment processing and real estate gives our clients the edge in every contract negotiation.

Capabilities include:
  • Customer agreements
  • Vendor and supplier agreements
  • Service agreements
  • Strategic partnership agreements
  • Intellectual property agreements
  • Technology agreements
  • Distribution and reseller agreements
  • Employment agreements
  • Non-disclosure agreements
  • Entertainment industry agreements
  • Real estate agreements
  • Independent contractor agreements

Corporate & Transactions

We structure companies, funds and corporate transactions.

We represent companies, founders and executives at every stage of the corporate lifecycle, from formation to complex corporate transactions.  Corporate governance decisions shape how companies mitigate risk and maximize value.  As founders and investors ourselves, we know how to structure companies and funds to achieve long-term business objectives, and we advise clients on all aspects of governance, including business and fund formation, operating and partnership agreements and shareholder matters.

We have personally financed, bought and sold businesses, and we represent companies, funds, founders and investors in M&A, fund formation, finance and other corporate transactions in every phase, from sourcing, to valuation, to diligence, to risk allocation, to closing.  Our experience as founders and operators in technology, hospitality, entertainment, FinTech, payment processing, real estate and other sectors helps us understand the complexities and business objectives behind each transaction and extract maximum value out of every deal.

Capabilities include:
  • Corporate formation and administration
  • Operating agreements, partnership agreements, fund agreements and other shareholder matters
  • M&A, asset purchases, debt financing and other corporate transactions
  • Venture capital and private equity deals
  • Strategic partnership and joint venture transactions
  • Entertainment industry transactions
  • Real estate transactions

Litigation & Disputes

We defend, prosecute and resolve commercial disputes.

We are former litigators in top global law firms. As founders and executives ourselves, we understand what’s at stake when disagreements threaten a company.  We evaluate every dispute from both a legal and business perspective, blending rigorous advocacy with practical business judgment to quickly identify and exploit leverage points that achieve broader business objectives.  Our goal is simple: when inevitable business disputes arise, extract maximum value for our clients as quickly and cost-efficiently as possible.

We handle complex business disputes, including those involving contracts, intellectual property, partnerships, M&A, labor and employment, business torts and fraud, for clients across technology, hospitality, entertainment, FinTech, payment processing and real estate.  Our deep experience as both lawyers and operators positions us to uniquely understand our clients’ goals and solve business disputes efficiently and effectively.

Capabilities include:
  • Contract Disputes
  • M&A Disputes
  • Partnership Disputes
  • Finance Disputes
  • Intellectual Property
  • Labor and Employment
  • Business Torts
  • Fraud
  • Entertainment
  • Real Estate

Let’s talk about how we can help you.

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Collaborative, low-ego environment with people you’ll want to work with, not just lawyers you have to.

Evan Sypek

Evan Sypek

Evan is a transactional, entertainment and media lawyer and advisor.  He represents production companies, hospitality groups, venture capital funds and startups.

evan@sbhllp.com

Eric Brin

Eric Brin

Eric is a commercial litigator.  He represents companies and individuals in labor and employment, corporate governance, commercial, real estate and intellectual property disputes.

eric@sbhllp.com

John Hynes

John Hynes

John is a corporate and litigation lawyer and advisor.  He represents companies, funds, founders and executives in corporate and fund governance, M&A, commercial contracts, finance, commercial disputes and other corporate matters.

john@sbhllp.com

Let’s talk about working together.

Get in Touch →
Evan Sypek

Evan Sypek

Evan is a transactional, entertainment and media lawyer and advisor.  He represents production companies, hospitality groups, venture capital funds and startups.

evan@sbhllp.com

Overview

Evan’s entertainment and media practice serves creators, production companies, investors and other entertainment industry players in all aspects of entertainment related ventures.  Evan also helps clients protect intellectual property, structure partnerships, secure financing and negotiate complex deals that drive long-term enterprise value.

Experience

Evan began his legal career as a finance, bankruptcy and corporate lawyer at Sheppard Mullin where his practice focused on commercial lending and other corporate transactions. He then pivoted to the entertainment industry, where he served as an attorney in the Business and Legal Affairs division at MGM Television, Senior Vice President of Business Affairs at NBC Universal and Senior Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs at Westbrook Studios, before founding his prior firm, Sypek Legal P.C.  Evan also founded and ran a successful investment vehicle with holdings in real estate, consumer products, FinTech and other sectors.

Evan has negotiated a wide variety of entertainment deals, including talent agreements, complex financing and distribution deals and high-volume production transactions.  In the hospitality space, Evan has launched, built and served as general counsel for multiple businesses, including private membership clubs, restaurants and hospitality software companies.

Credentials

  • J.D., New York University School of Law
  • B.A., Northeastern University
  • Admissions: California
Eric Brin

Eric Brin

Eric is a commercial litigator.  He represents companies and individuals in labor and employment, corporate governance, commercial, real estate and intellectual property disputes.

eric@sbhllp.com

Overview

Eric represents companies and individuals in all phases of commercial litigation, from counseling and dispute avoidance to pleadings, discovery, and trial.  His practice is wide-ranging, spanning labor and employment, corporate governance and commercial disputes, as well as real estate and intellectual property matters.  With extensive experience both in the courtroom and at the negotiating table, Eric understands how litigation is leveraged across industries, enabling him to focus on resolving client issues as efficiently as possible.

In the labor and employment space, Eric has advised and defended companies of various sizes in all types of disputes—from discrimination, retaliation, harassment and wrongful termination claims to wage and hour, ADA, and PAGA issues.  He has vast experience handling demand letters, counseling on day-to-day employee complaints and efficiently resolving potential disputes.  In the litigation context, Eric’s track record includes jury verdicts and dismissals for major retailers, financial services firms, and companies across hospitality, retail, agriculture, media, and tech.

Experience

Eric spent over 10 years in BigLaw, rising from associate to senior counsel, at McDermott Will & Schulte, Katten Muchin Rosenman and Seyfarth Shaw.  He also moved in-house, first at The Wonderful Company, where he handled corporate risk and litigation matters, as well as supported its commercial, regulatory and employment functions.  Eric later served as Deputy General Counsel for The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, where he led legal support on an array of labor and employment issues for major production companies in the entertainment industry.  Eric played Division I soccer at Northwestern University.  A former athlete and avid sports fan, Eric brings the same strategic thinking, discipline and competitive drive to achieving results for his clients.

Credentials

  • J.D., Order of the Coif, University of Southern California Gould School of Law
  • B.A., Northwestern University
  • Admissions: California and New York
John Hynes

John Hynes

John is a corporate and litigation lawyer and advisor.  He represents companies, funds, founders and executives in corporate and fund governance, M&A, commercial contracts, finance, commercial disputes and other corporate matters.

john@sbhllp.com

Overview

John represents clients in industries including technology, hospitality, service and real estate.  He advises his clients on corporate governance and corporate transactions, including M&A, finance, fund formation and commercial contracts.  John also represents clients in business disputes, including those involving contracts, partnership disputes, M&A, business torts and fraud.  John’s general counsel and entrepreneurial background shapes his growth-minded approach to designing legal strategies that both minimize risk and maximize value for his clients.

Experience

John started his career at Sheppard Mullin, an international AmLaw 100 law firm, where he represented fortune 100 companies, startups and founders in corporate matters, business litigation and government investigations.  He then served as General Counsel for Financial Systems Corporation, a large electronic payments company which he helped scale and sell to a public acquirer.  Then, John co-founded and served as General Counsel for Boom Commerce, a national FinTech and electronic payments company, which he built and sold to a public acquirer for more than $100 million dollars.  John is also co-founder and General Counsel of Forza Capital, a private financing company that makes structured credit and equity investments in industries including real estate, software, FinTech and consumer products.  He also co-founded Passo, a fully integrated real estate development company dedicated to providing affordable housing across Los Angeles.

Credentials

  • J.D., Magna Cum Laude, Southwestern Law School
  • B.A., Michigan State University
  • Admissions: California

We want to hear from you.  Reach out to see how we can help.

Office

145 Fairfax Avenue, Suite 380
Los Angeles, California 90036

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