Where I Work.  I am a corporate attorney with Lockhart Hornby, PLLC, a boutique law firm in Charlotte, North Carolina that focuses on providing entrepreneurs, startups, small businesses and growth-stage and middle market companies with legal representation and advice in business, corporate, financial, and technology transactions. 

Who I Work With.  I work with privately held companies, startups and  new ventures, often in the emerging growth and technology sectors.  Many of my clients are high-growth businesses.  Some of these companies raise capital through private investments from "friends & family," angel investors and institutional venture capital funds.  High-growth and venture-backed companies routinely enter into transactions that are typical of larger companies, and the legal services enabling these transactions are frequently more sophisticated than those commonly required by most small businesses.

Technology Companies.  I have a particular interest in technology and information technology.  My technology clients operate in a wide variety of industries and market sectors, including:  defense technologies; telecom and data center services; IT services, software and internet; business process and application service providers; education, training, testing and e-learning; marketing, graphic design and advertising and healthcare IT, medical devices and medical technologies.  I also represent a number of clients in traditional business sectors such as professional services, personal services, finance, franchise and retail. What my clients have in common is that they want to grow, and they want common sense legal services from a practical business partner.

What I Do. As a general corporate counsel to my clients, I am first and foremost a counselor - advising them on legal and business issues associated with starting, operating, growing, buying and selling businesses.  Next, I help my clients complete business transactions by negotiating with the parties; preparing transaction documents and contracts; administering transactions through to execution and closing; recording certain instruments with appropriate government agencies and maintaining client files.  I concentrate on two substantive practice areas - (1) business, corporate, financial and securities transactions and (2) technology transactions.

My corporate and securities practice includes choice of entity and corporate formation; venture capital, private placement, investor, and debt financing; mergers and acquisitions; joint ventures and strategic alliances; shareholder agreements and corporate governance; sales, supply, distribution and vendor agreements; and employment and non-competition agreements.

My technology transactions practice includes intellectual property and business contracts, including IP licensing, university and institutional technology transfer and technology development agreements; data center, telecom, hosting and website development agreements; confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements; domain name, trademark, copyright, and trade secret issues; electronic commerce agreements; privacy, terms of service and acceptable use policies; and issues related to procedure, jurisdiction, evidence, duty, breach, liability, and damages.

Check out our website or my bio for more information, and feel free to contact me at the office at (980) 297-7909, by cell phone at (704) 516-1654 or by email at .

"Obstacles are what you see when you take your eye off the goal."

- Author unknown

Copyright  ©  2005 Ashe Lockhart. All rights reserved.

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