Julie O’Neill focuses her practice on business, corporate and securities law, and counseling individuals and entities at all stages of the corporate life cycle on a wide variety of sophisticated transactions in the U.S., Canada, and abroad. Julie regularly handles:
- Entity selection and formation
- Private placements including angel and venture capital equity financings
- Limited liability company operating agreements and shareholders’ agreements
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Recapitalizations
- Private equity fund formation
- Secured transactions
- Employment issues and partnership disputes
- Licensing arrangements and general contract matters
- Trademark and copyright registrations
Julie has extensive expertise representing start-up businesses, including helping entrepreneurs in selecting the right legal structures for their businesses, securing debt and equity financing and handling ongoing operational matters. She frequently represents clients from the formation stage through multiple rounds of financings and finally to liquidity events. In addition, Julie represents multiple family offices, wealth managers and high net worth individuals, and families with planning, investing and structuring matters.
“Clients appreciate that I’m fast, efficient and make their lives easier,” Julie notes, “things that have come to me with 30-plus years of doing what I do. Clients also know that I’m very detail-oriented, a great strategist, and an excellent issue spotter.” Julie also gets high marks from her clients for her responsiveness and accessibility, qualities that are especially appreciated when everyone is under the gun to keep a deal on track and to get it closed before anyone gets cold feet.
Besides work
Julie is an avid photographer and gardener in her spare time. She is especially proud of her irises, which bloom spectacularly each year in the beginning of June, smell like bubblegum, and earn her delightful accolades from her neighbors and passers-by.
Affiliations
- Chairperson, Board of Directors, The United Way of Tri-County
- Member, Boston Bar Association
- Member, Women’s Bar Association
Previous
- Former First Vice Chair, Board of Directors, The United Way of Tri-County
- Former Member, Task Force for a Comprehensive Revision of the Massachusetts Business Corporation Law
- Former Member, Board of Directors, TechSandBox
Articles + Talks
Books
- Co-author of “The Entrepreneur’s Internet Handbook: Your Legal and Practical Guide to Starting a Business Website,” the second edition of which was entitled “The Business Owner’s Guide to the Internet” and was published in 2008
- “How to Start a Business in Massachusetts,” 1996
Articles
- “Keeping your business viable in the event of a divorce,” Worcester Business Journal, September 8, 2020
- “The New Crowdfunding Rules: Will They Really Help Startups?” Xconomy, November 15, 2016
- Author of the article “Rule 144 and Restricted Stock,” which appeared in International Securities Law and Regulation, Editors Dennis Campbell and Robert A. Solomon, published by Transnational Publishers, Inc. in 2000 under the auspices of the Center for International Legal Studies in Salzburg, Austria
Talks
- “How Startup Equity Works – Webinar with Q&A“, WorcLab, July 9, 2020
- Formation & Financing, “Start Me Up Legal Conference,” Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce and Bowditch & Dewey, Worcester, Massachusetts, March 27, 2019
Bar Admissions
- Massachusetts
- New York
Education
- J.D., cum laude, Boston College Law School
- B.A., Yale University
Julie has years of proven experience helping clients in many industries including life sciences, medical devices, Web-based retailing, software, healthcare, and mobile applications. She has handled equity financings and M&A transactions ranging from $100,000 to $30 million.
Other experience
Entity formation and corporate structure, financings, and M&A
- Creators of a dating website starting with formation of the entity, through the entity’s lifespan, including four rounds of equity financing, a round of venture debt financing, and a sale of the entity to Match.com.
- Distributor of genomic-based reagents and fluorescent in situ hybridization (“FISH”) probes for aiding the study and understanding of numerous cancers, from formation of the entity through its lifespan including two rounds of equity financing, a debt financing, and a sale of the entity.
- An insurance risk compliance solution provider in its conversion from a New Jersey limited liability company to a Delaware corporation and a subsequent Series A financing.
- A custom wine creator and distributor in its conversion from a California S corporation to a Delaware C corporation, a subsequent preferred stock financing, and multiple trademark filings.
Other financings
- Creators of a mobile application that recognizes consumer products on a television screen or other visual medium and directs the consumer to websites where the products can be purchased. The founders had initially set up a German entity to hold the intellectual property. Julie helped them set up a Delaware corporation to become the parent entity and negotiated strategic partnering arrangements with German and Swiss media companies. With Julie’s help, the company is currently raising $6 million in a Series A financing.
- A company whose founders are the inventors of “wearable technology” designed to improve workplace safety in a $30 million equity financing. The lead investor was a major insurance firm that simultaneously entered into a strategic partnership with the company. Julie handled the documentation for the financing, filings, and closings.
- Owner and operator of several Mexican restaurants in Manhattan and Montauk in its first and second rounds of equity financing.
- Craft brewery start-up entity raising funds for its brewery buildout, including negotiation of a complex operating agreement addressing competition, conflicts, and other issues of concern to the founders and the investors.
Events + Recordings
Publications
News
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Julie O’Neill Quoted in Fortune’s “Elon Musk’s brain-implant startup Neuralink may have misled regulators about Musk’s leadership role”
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Julie O’Neill Elected Chairperson of United Way of Tri-County
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Q&A with Julie O’Neill for United Way of Tri-County’s Company Spotlight
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Press Release: Bowditch & Worcester Chamber Team Up for Start Me Up Legal Conference