Will Stafford

Will Stafford is Of Counsel in Crain Caton’s Corporate, Business Transactions and Tax Group. With over a decade of legal experience, Will has developed a broad corporate practice, with an emphasis on securities offerings, business transactions, and general corporate governance. He has extensive experience representing individuals, public and private companies, financial institutions and local governments in a wide variety of matters including capital markets transactions, mergers and acquisitions, early-stage and venture capital investments, technology transactions, commercial contracts, securities regulation and compliance, corporate structuring and formation, and general corporate matters.

Will has represented corporations in the issuance of debt, equity and convertible securities (both public offerings and private placements), as well as the underwriters and purchasers in securities transactions. Both public and private companies have chosen Will to represent them in the sale of their businesses, and strategic and financial purchasers have looked to Will to help them strengthen their company portfolio. Will has helped to guide new businesses through their entity formations and early-stage investment transactions, including angel rounds, and Series Seed, A, B, etc. investments from venture capital firms. Most importantly, Will is a trusted business advisor to his clients who often rely on as their outside general counsel.

Prior to joining Crain Caton, Will served as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for a financial services technology (FinTech) startup in Houston, Texas. Will held the Series 7, 24, 66 and 79 licenses (currently inactive) from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and received a Certificate in Business and Public Policy from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

University of Pennsylvania Law School

J.D. (2009)

2006 - 2009

Tulane University

M.A. (2006) | Policy Economics

2005 - 2006

Tulane University

B.S. (2005) | Economics

2002 - 2005

Of Counsel

Crain, Caton & James PC

2020 - Current

General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer

NextSeed

2019 - 2020

Associate

Schwartz, Page & Harding, LLP

2012 - 2018

Associate

Haynes and Boone, LLP

2009 - 2012

Developments Involving Shareholder Access and Proxy Statement Disclosure

Journal of Securities Law, Regulation & Compliance

2010

State Bar of Texas

Member

Current

Houston Bar Association

Member

Current

Houston Young Lawyers Association

Member

Current

Texas

State Bar of Texas

ID Number: 24070662

Since 2009