An international legal team working remotely for founders building in Dubai and across the UAE. From your first founders’ agreement to your Series A shareholders’ agreement, drafted for the forum that will enforce it, onshore UAE law or the common-law courts of DIFC and ADGM.
Pre-seed and just formalising with a co-founder, raising a round, or building your ESOP pool, share where you are and an attorney from our team will respond with a precise quote and timeline. No obligation, no automated replies.
A term sheet, a SAFE note, an ESOP pool, these documents carry specific mechanics that a generic commercial contract lawyer doesn’t handle day to day. We work with founders building in Dubai’s free zones and onshore, drafting the specific documents a startup actually needs as it moves from an idea between co-founders to a company with outside investors and employees holding equity.
This page covers contract drafting specifically for startups, from founders’ agreements through to Series A documentation. For general commercial contracts, NDAs, vendor agreements, or employment contracts outside the startup-equity context, see our contract lawyers in Dubai service.
From co-founders shaking hands to a signed Series A round.
Equity split, vesting schedule, roles, and what happens if a co-founder leaves, settled in writing before there’s a reason to disagree about any of it.
The non-binding framework that sets valuation, board seats, and key investor rights before the full financing documents get drafted.
Early-stage financing instruments drafted for the valuation cap, discount, and conversion mechanics your round actually needs.
The pool, vesting rules, and grant documentation that let you compensate early employees with equity without creating a governance headache later.
Drafted for your funding round specifically, protective provisions, board composition, and drag-along and tag-along rights that hold up in DIFC or ADGM.
Formalising an equity-for-advice arrangement, scope, vesting, and confidentiality, so an informal relationship doesn’t become an ownership dispute.
Making sure code, designs, and product IP built by co-founders, early employees, or contractors actually belongs to the company, not to whoever wrote it.
The documents that actually close your round, share subscription, information rights, and pro-rata terms for your investors.
Start with a founders’ agreement. This is the single most skipped document at this stage, and the one that causes the most damage later if it’s missing when a co-founder relationship goes wrong.
A term sheet sets the terms, then a SAFE, convertible note, or full share subscription formalises the investment, alongside a shareholders’ agreement that protects both you and your new investors.
An ESOP pool and proper IP assignment from every employee and contractor, so the company, not any individual, owns what gets built.
More formal investor rights agreements, updated shareholders’ terms, and governance that scales with a growing board and cap table.
My Legal Pal is based in India, working remotely for founders across Dubai and the UAE. That structure means you get an international legal team without the overhead of a Dubai-based firm, drafted for whichever forum actually governs your company, onshore UAE law, or the common-law courts of DIFC and ADGM, by lawyers who understand both systems and how startup equity documents specifically need to be drafted for each.
For general commercial contracts, NDAs, and employment agreements.
Recovering payment or resolving a commercial dispute.
Our core founders’-agreement service, for any jurisdiction.
Tell us your stage, and we’ll come back with a clear scope and fixed fee.
