A tech partner at top 25 US law firm Goodwin Procter has left to become the first general counsel for legaltech startup HyperDraft.

Sean Greaney has joined the Los Angeles-based company, which builds tools for working with legal documents, after two years in Goodwin’s Santa Monica office as a partner in the tech and life sciences group. He advised growth companies across industries through all stages of the company life cycle, including matters relating to financings, M&A, joint ventures and commercial transactions, as well as general corporate matters. He also represents VC firms and strategic investors in relation to their investments.  

Earlier he spent five years as a partner in the venture capital and emerging growth practice of Southern Californian firm Stubbs Alderton & Markiles and also had a stint in-house at Beats by Dre, where he helped the company scale and finalise its acquisition by Apple in 2014.

"Sean is an exceptional attorney and someone that I frequently refer to as the consummate lawyer's lawyer. He's the guy you go to when you're in a bind," said HyperDraft CEO and chief engineer Tony Thai, adding that "his experience spans the entirety of our target user base, having been both in-house counsel and in private practice at large and mid-sized law firms. I'm honoured for Sean to join us on our journey and for him to be in the foxhole with us." 

Greaney will serve as HyperDraft's first GC and joins the company’s executive leadership team as it prepares to launch new patent-pending products later this year. His hire comes shortly after the company announced that Michael Roster, former managing partner of Morison & Foerster's Los Angeles office and Stanford University general counsel, had joined its advisory board.

"The modernisation of law is happening now and the technology that HyperDraft has developed will change the legal industry for the better," said Greaney. "As a law firm partner, I searched high and low for solutions to ease the pain of the contracting process. I've been promised solutions which were never delivered or was told that what I was looking for was impossible. When Tony first told me about HyperDraft and its product offerings, I was sceptical. However, the team at HyperDraft has proved its ability to deliver next-gen solutions and to knock out features faster than anyone else on the market."