News

25 Jun, 2026

Should Startup Founders Purchase Their Shares?

Should Startup Founders Purchase Their Shares?For many startup founders, equity is often viewed simply as ownership. The larger the percentage, the greater the stake in the company.However, the method by which founders acquire their equity can have significant legal, tax, and business consequences.One of the earliest decisions founders make is whether to purchase founder shares at incorporation or receive equity later through grants or options. While this distinction may seem minor during the early stages of a company, it can substantially affect ownership rights, taxation, fundraising, and long-term business planning.Founder Share PurchasesMany startups issue founder shares shortly after incorporation. In these situations, founders purchase shares directly from the company for a nominal price while the company has little or no established value.For example, a founder may purchase several million shares for a relatively small amount shortly after the company is formed.These shares are often subject to vesting schedules, which protect the company if a founder leaves early while still allowing founders to establish ownership from the outset.Purchasing shares early may provide several advantages:Lower acquisition costs.Potential tax benefits due to low initial valuation.Earlier ownership certainty.Simplified future fundraising discussions.Alignment between founders through vesting arrangements.Equity Grants and Stock OptionsSome founders receive equity through stock grants or stock options rather than purchasing shares at formation.Options provide the right to purchase shares in the future at a predetermined exercise price.While stock options are commonly used for employees and advisors, they can create additional considerations for founders, particularly if the company's value increases before the options are exercised.Potential challenges may include:Higher exercise costs.More complex tax consequences.Delayed ownership.Additional administrative requirements.Why Timing MattersThe earliest stages of a startup often represent the lowest valuation the company will ever have.As the company grows, changes to ownership structures can become increasingly expensive and complicated.Investors frequently review capitalization tables, vesting arrangements, founder agreements, and stock issuances during due diligence. Properly structured founder equity can help avoid disputes and provide clarity during future financing rounds.Every Startup Is DifferentThere is no single equity structure that is appropriate for every company.Factors such as:Number of founders.Planned fundraising.Business structure.Tax considerations.Vesting arrangements.Long-term growth plans.all influence how founder equity should be structured.When to Seek Legal AdviceFounder equity decisions made during incorporation often remain with the company for years.Addressing ownership, vesting, transfer restrictions, and governance issues early can help prevent costly disputes later.The attorneys at SJKP regularly advise startups, founders, and growing businesses on business formation, founder agreements, equity structures, and corporate governance matters.

21 Apr, 2026

Signing of an MOU for Business Cooperation with Horizon M&A Advisors

Horizon M&A Advisors and SJKP signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on April 19, 2026. Horizon M&A Advisors is a consulting firm providing comprehensive M&A advisory services, with a focus on buy-side and sell-side advisory, as well as corporate valuation, exit strategy development, and sell-side readiness. The firm has executed a wide range of transactions for companies ranging from small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) with revenues under $5 million to mid-sized companies with revenues between $5 million and $100 million, including transactions involving private equity funds and institutional investors. The firm has strong sector expertise across core industrial sectors, including manufacturing, healthcare, facility management, specialized construction, IT/software, precision metals, and solar EPC. It delivers reliable advisory services backed by experience in over 500 transactions and a cumulative deal track record totaling several billion dollars. Through this agreement, SJKP has established a cooperative framework with Horizon M&A Advisors and plans to provide more specialized and closely coordinated advisory services in future U.S. M&A transactions involving Korean companies.

13 Feb, 2026

Why You Need Someone Who Knows Where the System Breaks

When I first started as a prosecutor at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, a mentor told me something that shaped the way I understand the entire criminal justice system. He said that our system is built on centuries of American and British common law, layered with reforms and political movements, and held together with procedural rules that were never designed with the modern world in mind. He told me that if we had to build a criminal justice system from scratch today, no one would design anything that looks like what we have now. Yet this is the structure we must work within, and every shift in policy, every legislative reform, and every public pressure campaign forces the system to bend rather than break. The last several years have illustrated this in dramatic fashion. In 2020, the New York Legislature shifted the balance significantly toward defendants. But the reforms created real strain. Changes to New York’s speedy trial statute, CPL 30.30, resulted in widespread dismissals based not on the strength of the evidence, but on procedural timing and administrative hurdles. Legislators eventually amended the statute again in an effort to moderate the consequences, but even after the revisions, the day to day reality remains that prosecutors face obstacles that have nothing to do with their skill or judgment. They are limited by the machinery of the system itself. In many counties, prosecutorial discretion is determined not by considered policy decisions, but by bottlenecks in technology and infrastructure. Drug prosecutions provide a clear example. Even where the evidence is strong, the state laboratory system often lacks the staff, or technological capacity to test substances quickly enough to meet statutory deadlines. The volume of cases overwhelms the system, and when capacity collapses under that weight, defense attorneys do exactly what they are supposed to do. They exploit the weak points. They push the system to honor its own deadlines. They use the gaps to protect their clients.These weak points are not accidents. They are the natural cracks in a system built over centuries, patched repeatedly, and expected to operate at modern speed without modern tools. Prosecutors are young attorneys with massive caseloads, limited support, and constant pressure. They are human, and humans cannot outrun structural deficiencies. Until the system embraces meaningful modernization, including the integration of new technology and artificial intelligence to support discovery, organization, and evidence management, these cracks will widen. The key is understanding that criminal practice is not a smooth or predictable process. It is a terrain full of blind corners, procedural traps, and structural weaknesses. To navigate it effectively requires more than bold talk or courtroom theatrics. It requires someone who has seen these weak points from the inside, someone who knows not just where the cracks are but why they exist and how they influence strategy. The law swings back and forth. Policies shift, statutes change, procedures tighten and loosen with political winds. Through all of this, the system remains imperfect. It rewards those who know where to push, when to press, and how to see the invisible seams that hold everything together. In sum, criminal practice is not clear cut. It is shaped by shifting laws, structural flaws, and consequences that reach into every corner of a person’s life. In a system defined by change, you need the one thing that does not waver: an advocate who understands the system’s vulnerabilities and knows how to navigate them. The stakes are too high for guesswork. At SJKP, we stand as the constant in a landscape of uncertainty, and we are ready to fight for you.

26 Jan, 2026

Pro Bono Legal Support Notice

SJKP considers the realization of public interest values and the protection of individuals’ rights as an important part of its social responsibility. In line with this mission, we continuously engage in various public-interest legal support activities.Currently, SJKP’s Pro Bono legal assistance is provided exclusively to individuals who have been referred by public institutions, including New York City agencies or Korea–U.S. related public organizations, to ensure that support is delivered fairly and responsibly.To maintain a structured and sustainable Pro Bono program and to provide meaningful assistance to as many people as possible, individual applications are not accepted at this time. We kindly ask for your understanding.SJKP remains committed to contributing to society through responsible and impactful legal service.