We are a boutique legal practice serving angel and VC-backed emerging growth companies and investors in Silicon Valley, Seattle, and elsewhere on a diverse range of legal matters including general corporate, securities (including preferred stock and debt financings), licensing, IP strategy, mergers and acquisitions, labor and employment, open source, real estate, and international issues.
Our partners have experience from top-tier Silicon Valley law firms like Wilson Sonsini, Venture Law Group (VLG) and Perkins Coie, as well as in-house experience at leading technology companies like F5 Networks, Isilon Systems (acquired by EMC for $2.25 billion) and Concur Technologies (acquired by SAP for $8.3 billion).
From working in and around startups for many years, our partners know that our clients need lawyers who can put on a business hat as well as a lawyer hat.
What we have learned from working for, working at, and even running our own startups is that startups and early-stage companies don’t need lawyers who think and behave like traditional lawyers. They need lawyers who are able to solve their clients’ problems with the founders’ perspective in mind – and at velocity. Because we operate with an extremely agile, low-overhead model, we are able to deliver best-in-class services in a cost-efficient manner.
Noel is a corporate, securities, and licensing lawyer working exclusively with start-ups and the venture capitalists and angels who fund such companies. Noel specializes in preferred stock, SAFE and convertible note financings (company-side and investor-side), M&A, private debt financings, licensing and other commercial agreements, strategic partnerships, equity compensation, and corporate governance. Noel’s clients range from unfunded founders to mid- and late-stage private companies. Most of Noel’s clients are tech companies including software, wireless, health tech, mobile, Internet, medical device, biotech, clean tech, and game companies. Prior to joining TangoLaw, Noel was a principal at Carney Badley Spellman and at Beacon Law Advisors, and VP General Counsel of Melodeo, Inc. (a venture-backed wireless start-up). Noel has also worked at Big Law (DLA Piper and Venture Law Group) and Corixa (a public Biotech company). Noel is a member of the Washington and California State Bars.
Doug founded TangoLaw in 2009 as an expat in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Before starting the firm, he held senior positions at a number of start-ups in the Seattle area, including Isilon Systems (General Counsel and Secretary), F5 Networks (Corporate Counsel), ViAir (now Good Technology) (Director of Business Development), and Concur Technologies (Director of Business and Legal Affairs). He also previously founded Peapod Seattle, where he served as the President and Chief Executive Officer. Doug began his legal career at Perkins Coie. Doug currently lives in London and holds a B.Sc. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, and a Certificat de Cuisine Élémentaire from Le Cordon Bleu cooking school.
Shane Anderson represents companies, investors, and entrepreneurs dealing with start-up matters, private equity and debt financings, commercial and licensing agreements, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate governance. Prior to joining TangoLaw, Shane was a partner at Beacon Law Advisors, PLLC. Before that, he practiced corporate and securities law at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C. He graduated with honors from the University of Texas School of Law in 2011, where he was an editor of the Texas Law Review. He received his B.A. from the University of Washington in 2005. Shane is a member of the Washington State Bar. He lives in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle with his wife.
Anna-Rita Wong Terzo focuses on tax, mergers and acquisitions, and financing and licensing matters related to start-up companies. A recent graduate of the preeminent New York University LLM Taxation program, she earned her J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law. There, she served as the managing editor of the Washington International Law Journal (formerly known as the Pacific Rim Law and Policy Journal) and completed an externship for the Honorable Judge Coughenour in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Prior to law school, Anna-Rita worked as a corporate and real estate paralegal for seven years in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Anna-Rita is a member of the Washington State Bar.
Prior to joining TangoLaw, Henry worked as an analyst at PeopleFund, an investment group run by some of Latin America’s leading tech entrepreneurs. Henry began his career as a lawyer at King & Wood Mallesons, a global firm headquartered in Australia and Hong Kong, where he worked on a mix of mergers and acquisitions and large debt financings. He graduated with first-class honors from the University of Melbourne Law School. Henry has passed the California Bar Exam and expects to be admitted to practice in the United States later this year.
A paralegal at TangoLaw, Kristen Akers completed her Advanced Paralegal Certificate in June 2017. She previously worked at Beacon Law Advisors, PLLC. Kristen graduated from the University of Washington in 2015, where she studied Law, Economics, and Business Administration. While in college, she worked at Windermere Real Estate and interned for the highly publicized Seattle arena project.
Ashley Johnson is a paralegal at TangoLaw and previously worked at Beacon Law Advisors, PLLC, a boutique corporate and securities law firm that specialized in working with tech start-ups. She completed her Advanced Paralegal Certificate in June 2017. Prior to Beacon, Ashley was the Store Administrator at Nordstrom in Tacoma, Washington, and Nashville, Tennessee. She graduated in 2011 from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles with an Associate of Arts in Merchandise Marketing and a Bachelor of Science in Business Management.
VP of Global and Strategic Accounts, PacketMotion; former General Manager, F5 Networks
VP of Worldwide Sales, Talari Networks; former VP of Business Development, F5 Networks
Chief Financial Officer, DataSphere Technologies
CEO of ParaScale; former General Manager, NetApp
VP of Worldwide Sales, Talari Networks; former VP of Business Development, F5 Networks
