Description:

Contracting Basics
Protect your company by understanding the contracts that protect you.

Contracts form the backbone of every startup’s relationships—with co-founders, employees, contractors, and investors. Yet too often, founders rely on others to handle the details—only to discover too late what they’ve signed away. This session will help you build the confidence and knowledge to review, negotiate, and manage your own agreements effectively.

You’ll learn:
- Why You Can’t Rely on Others for Your Contracts: Understand common pitfalls and why founders must take ownership of key legal documents.
- Basic Structure and Key Terms: Get familiar with the anatomy of a contract and the language that defines your obligations and protections.
- Securing Intellectual Property Rights: Learn how to ensure your company owns its IP—through the right licenses and assignments from employees, consultants, advisors, board members, and contractors.
- Negotiation Tips: Develop practical skills for approaching contract discussions with clarity and confidence.

Perfect for founders, researchers, and startup team members, this session will demystify the legal essentials that safeguard your company’s interests and future value.

About the Speakers

Jay Reilly
Partner, Foley Hoag LLP

Jay Reilly is a seasoned transactional and corporate advisor with deep experience serving clients across the life sciences and high-tech industries. He represents biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic, and digital health companies—as well as universities and nonprofits—in complex strategic transactions, licensing and collaboration agreements, venture financing and mergers and acquisitions. His work spans both domestic and international markets.

Jay regularly advises C-suite executives, boards of directors, and general counsels on governance, fiduciary duties, risk mitigation, and enterprise-wide legal strategy. He frequently serves as a trusted senior advisor to leadership teams and as outside general counsel to companies with lean in-house legal departments.

Ben Vaughan, PhD
Associate & Registered Patent Attorney, Foley Hoag LLP

Dr. Benjamin Vaughan is a registered Patent Attorney with a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry. His patent practice focuses on chemical and pharmaceutical inventions, and he has specialized knowledge related to industrial process chemistry and alternative energy technologies.