Overview

About George Grellas Esq.

I am a startup business lawyer and litigator practicing in Silicon Valley as head of a 4-lawyer boutique firm, George Grellas & Associates.

We are business lawyers with a specialty in early-stage tech startups. Since 1984, we have helped small to medium-sized businesses, startups, entrepreneurs, and executives - several thousand in all. We help form companies - fund them - sell or merge or acquire them - sell their assets - do their corporate work, employment work, contracts, leases, and standard terms - licensing, trademark, and IP work - founder and equity incentive structures - commercial deals of all types. We also do litigation: business - corporate - contract - fraud - trade secret - unfair competition - employment - business break-ups - commercial litigation generally.

I am a member of the State Bar-CEB Business and Intellectual Property Law Advisory Committee and a frequent contributing author to CEB business publications (Counseling California Corporations (3rd edition 2008); Advising California Partnerships (3rd edition 2009); California Business Law Practitioner Journal)). CEB stands for Continuing Education of the Bar and has been a leading publisher of lawyer practitioner treatises in California, in affiliation with our State Bar, for over 70 years.

Years ago, in law school, I also served as Chief Technical Editor of the Santa Clara Law Review.

I recently served as President of the Sunnyvale-Cupertino Bar Association (2008-09) and have served on its board of directors for many years.

I also am a member of the Santa Clara Bar Association and the State Bar of California.

Practice Areas
Professional Experience
ExperienceYears
Founder and Principal, George Grellas & Associates1984-Current
Senior attorney in Silicon Valley business and corporate law firm with a specialty in early-stage tech startups.
Associate Attorney, Bingham McCutchen1980-1984
Litigation attorney in then-250 lawyer San Francisco firm representing primarily Fortune 500 companies in commercial litigation matters.
Federal Law Clerk, United States District Court (N.D. Cal.)1979-1980
Federal judicial clerkship with the Honorable William A. Ingram.
Education
SchoolFocusDegreeYear
Santa Clara University School of Law - Santa Clara UniversityLawJ.D.1978
Honors: Magna Cum Laude
University of California - Santa CruzHistoryB.A.1974
Honors: Highest honors in history
Websites
Social Network Profiles
Legal Profiles
Publishing Profiles
Jurisdictions
LocationYears
CaliforniaSince 1978
Professional Activities
ActivityOrganizationStart YearEnd Year
MemberState Bar-CEB Business and Intellectual Property Law Advisory Committee2009
PresidentSunnyvale-Cupertino Bar Association20082009
DirectorSunnyvale-Cupertino Bar Association20032009
Awards
AwardOrganizationYear
Best LawyersSan Jose Magazine2002
Best LawyersSan Jose Magazine2001
Best LawyersSan Jose Magazine2000
Professional Affiliations
PositionYears
Member, Sunnyvale-Cupertino Bar Association2003-Current
Member, Santa Clara County Bar Association1984-Current
Member, California State Bar1978-Current

Publications

Publishing Profiles
feed Latest Posted to JD Supra
Publications
TitlePublisherPublished
Advising California PartnershipsCEB2009
Contributing author to this legal treatise for California business law practitioners.
California Business Law PractitionerCEBApril, 2008
Author, "Tips, Traps, and Strategies for Representing Early-Stage Startups" (Spring 2008)(for California business law practitioners).
Counseling California CorporationsCEB2008
Contributing Author to this legal treatise for California corporate practitioners.

Blogs

Twitter / grellas
  • February 2, 2012grellas: RT @dweekly: My Third Edition Guide to Stock & Options is available in the Kindle Store! http://t.co/6S0P5m1E
  • January 23, 2012grellas: My HN comments on how Judge Alsup has sent Oracle reeling concerning its Java-related damages claims against Google http://goo.gl/A7Nwy
  • January 18, 2012grellas: My HN comments on copyright policy and the "right to be a pirate" claim http://goo.gl/y9BcB
  • January 5, 2012grellas: Taking issue with a Techdirt piece, my HN comments on why one can oppose SOPA and still support copyright laws http://goo.gl/yLQCm
  • November 29, 2011grellas: My HN post urging fair argumentation takes collateral damage from some @arrington-related shrapnel http://goo.gl/GVKyq
  • November 18, 2011grellas: Go figure: in Hong Kong, 80% of those in their 20s suffer from myopia but many wear glasses without the glass to be hip http://goo.gl/mahwL
Websites

Twitter & Social Networks

Show in Google Earth

1

Community Connections

66

Total Connections

14

Community Followers

527

Total Followers

1

Community Following

0

Total Following
Twitter / grellas
  • February 2, 2012grellas: RT @dweekly: My Third Edition Guide to Stock & Options is available in the Kindle Store! http://t.co/6S0P5m1E
  • January 23, 2012grellas: My HN comments on how Judge Alsup has sent Oracle reeling concerning its Java-related damages claims against Google http://goo.gl/A7Nwy
  • January 18, 2012grellas: My HN comments on copyright policy and the "right to be a pirate" claim http://goo.gl/y9BcB
  • January 5, 2012grellas: Taking issue with a Techdirt piece, my HN comments on why one can oppose SOPA and still support copyright laws http://goo.gl/yLQCm
  • November 29, 2011grellas: My HN post urging fair argumentation takes collateral damage from some @arrington-related shrapnel http://goo.gl/GVKyq
  • November 18, 2011grellas: Go figure: in Hong Kong, 80% of those in their 20s suffer from myopia but many wear glasses without the glass to be hip http://goo.gl/mahwL
  • November 15, 2011grellas: A few remarks on SOPA - not a good development, worthy of being resisted, but with a proper grasp of the issues http://goo.gl/Fxary
  • November 10, 2011grellas: My detailed analysis of legal issues concerning Zynga's pressuring of employees to give up unvested stock or be fired http://goo.gl/eY7YD
  • November 10, 2011grellas: @stevefink Well, I managed to jump in on the new thread on Zynga as well, this time with a much more detailed analysis http://goo.gl/dM1uT
  • November 10, 2011grellas: Zynga systematically pressuring employees to surrender unvested stock on pain of getting fired - my thoughts http://goo.gl/ODzLN
  • November 9, 2011grellas: RT @ParseIt: We're super excited to announce that we have raised a $5.5M Series A! To infinity and beyond! http://t.co/c2hLOzU0
  • October 17, 2011grellas: A few thoughts in an HN thread on the pluses and minuses of documenting your contractual intent via email exchanges http://goo.gl/69GQU
  • October 17, 2011grellas: A treacly HN thread on a founder who claims foul play, with my comments on classic setup mistakes with DIY LLCs http://goo.gl/tOI4e
  • October 8, 2011grellas: Apple seeks patent for in-app purchases. There is a time to laugh, a time to cry - don't know which this is http://goo.gl/a00H7
  • October 4, 2011grellas: Good book review on Steven Pinker's take that human violence is in decline - plenty controversial but intriguing http://goo.gl/UMNK5
  • October 1, 2011grellas: An HN thread on VC's critique of Airbnb round allowing founders to take out large cash dividend, with my comments http://goo.gl/KUhM8
  • October 1, 2011grellas: Law explains why Facebook should not be able to corner the market on the "book" suffix for TM purposes http://goo.gl/cg9LX
  • September 29, 2011grellas: Golan case to be argued Oct. 5: can public domain works be "re-copyrighted" (goo.gl/3Fz7y); briefs goo.gl/Giq3M - a hot one at the S. Ct.
  • September 23, 2011grellas: A look at Sullivan & Cromwell's confidential on-campus interviewing guide (recycled rather than shredded - oops) http://bit.ly/pMXFJh
  • September 21, 2011grellas: Google+ opens up to the hoi polloi and I am in!

Videos

Videos


Contact & Map

20400 Stevens Creek Blvd
Cupertino, CA, US 95014
 
Telephone: +1 (408) 255-6310
Telephone: +1 (408) 255-6310
Fax: +1 (408) 255-6350