Peter Smith
Managing Attorney






About Me
I love going to the office, and the reason is simple: my clients do amazing things! From manufacturing cookstoves for the developing world to building software that runs autonomous vehicles, I have the pleasure of working with people who are dead set to make a dent in the universe.
My practice focuses on for-profit and nonprofit corporate governance, meaning I draft and review bylaws, shareholders agreements and other documents for an entity’s stakeholders. I also practice in intellectual property as nearly all of my clients’ legal needs include understanding and protecting intellectual property.
I am most helpful during times of transition. This includes starting up; buying or selling a business; adding investors, shareholders, or other partners; and even winding down. It is these situations of transitions where I find the most joy i as I guide clients through the decision-making process and protecting their interests as best I can.
Finally, I have a passion for education. I have taught the nonprofit law clinic at Seattle University and the University of Washington. I also write and speak, mostly about legal issues facing social entrepreneurs. These issues include hybrid entities like the social purpose corporation or benefit corporation and tax-exempt organization law.
Email: peter@apexlg.com
Practice Areas
Startups & Formation
- Forming for-profit and nonprofit entities with state and local agencies.
- Drafting and managing convertible note rounds.
- Drafting and managing early stage fundraising.
- Drafting and managing employee stock option plans.
Business Transactions & Services
- Drafting vendor and customer facing agreements.
- Drafting and negotiating letters of intent.
- Drafting and negotiating asset purchase agreements.
- Drafting and negotiating equity purchase agreements.
Employment matters for standard employees and independent contractors.
Nonprofit Corporations
- Drafting vendor and customer facing agreements.
- Drafting and negotiating letters of intent.
- Drafting and negotiating asset purchase agreements.
- Drafting and negotiating equity purchase agreements.
Employment matters for standard employees and independent contractors
Intellectual Property
Filing trademark applications.
Speaking Engagements & Publications
- Nonprofit Entities: Formation, Governing, and Tax Considerations
- Nonprofit Law Institute 2017 – Mission Driven Commercial Ventures
- The Social Purpose Corporation: How is it different from nonprofits and for-profits?
- WA SOS Mt.Vernon Nonprofit Conference
- Advanced Nonprofit Techniques
- WayFind’s Social Purpose Corporation
- Wayfind’s Nonprofit Transitions
- Advising the New Tech Startup Business Entities
- Brown Bag Lunch’s The Social Purpose Corporation
- Hot Topics in Business Law
- Internal Controls for Nonprofits
- Healthcare Hospitality House Network National Conference
- King County Bar Association – What every lawyer needs to know about corporate law and an introduction to the social purpose corporation.
- Washington Society of CPAs’ Social Purpose Corporations
- Brown Bag Luncheon at Van Ness Feldman on Social Purpose Corporations
- Co-authored “Tips for Successful Nonprofit Board Service” in the NW Lawyer Volume 6, Number 3 (April/May 2014).
- Co-authored “Not a Performing Bear: The Supreme Court’s Decision in Lummi Indian Nation v. State” in the Environmental & Land Use Law Newsletter Volume 37, Number 3 (December 2010).
Education
- Seattle University School of Law – J.D. summa cum laude
- University of Washington – Bachelor of Arts, Political Science & Classical Studies
Bar Admission
- Washington State Bar, 2010
Volunteering & Community Groups
- Housing Justice Project Volunteer
- Communities Rise Nonprofit Legal Clinic Volunteer
- Adjunct Professor at Seattle University School of Law, Nonprofit Law Clinic
Outside Activities/Accomplishments
- Running
- Hiking and Climbing (summited Mt. Rainier August, 2019)
- Parenting