# Parsons Behle & Latimer **Type:** helper **Status:** Draft **Confidence:** Medium **Focus:** technology law, IP transactions, licensing, securities, emerging companies, venture financing **Location:** Salt Lake City, UT (regional offices across the Mountain West) **Updated:** 2026-06-18 **Layout:** field-guide ## Summary Parsons Behle & Latimer is a long-established Mountain West law firm with a Salt Lake City office and a practice mix that lands well for technology founders: a dedicated technology / IP-transactions group, a securities and capital-markets group, and an "Emerging Companies & Venture Capital" practice tag on its attorney profiles. The useful framing for a founder is "a regional firm that treats intellectual property and capital raising as the two central legal levers of a tech company." It overlaps with [Kirton McConkie](kirton-mcconkie.md) as a full-service option; its public materials lean noticeably into technology licensing and IP-driven deals. ## Impact For software, hardware, and deep-tech companies, the legal value often sits at two seams: protecting and licensing the IP, and structuring the money. Getting a licensing agreement, joint-development deal, or IP assignment wrong can quietly hand value to a partner or leave the company unable to prove it owns its core asset during diligence. Getting an early raise wrong can create securities exposure. Parsons' public capability pages target exactly those seams — technology/IP transactions on one side, securities and capital markets on the other — which is why it belongs on a Utah founder's shortlist for IP-heavy deals. ## How They Help From the firm's public capability pages, Parsons Behle & Latimer can help a founder with: - **Technology and IP transactions** — drafting and negotiating licensing, joint-development, and cross-licensing agreements; IP due diligence and audits for M&A. - **IP protection** — patent, trademark, copyright, and trade-secret strategy (often coordinated with litigators who handle infringement and trade-secret disputes). - **Securities and capital markets** — structuring angel and venture financings, preparing private-placement documents, and advising on disclosure/compliance "from the early round of angel financing to the more complex rounds." [source:parsons-behle-latimer-official-website] - **Cross-functional deal teams** — pulling in IP, tax, employment, and real-estate attorneys as a transaction requires. ## Best-Fit Founders The strongest fit is a Utah technology or deep-tech founder whose value is concentrated in IP and who expects licensing deals, partnerships, or IP-sensitive financings — for example a SaaS, semiconductor, medical, or hardware company negotiating a development agreement with a larger partner, or a team that needs both patent strategy and a clean priced round. It is a heavier option than a generic formation service for a pre-product founder who only needs an entity and a standard SAFE; that founder may not need firm-level IP-transaction depth yet. ## Cost / Engagement Model Parsons is a full-service regional firm; expect hourly or matter-based billing at market rates rather than a published startup package. Founders should ask which office and attorney would lead the work, whether early-stage arrangements exist, and how IP and corporate billing are coordinated. Pricing is not public; confirm in intake. ## Proof Points - Public "Technology, Licensing & Intellectual Property Transactions" and "Technology" practice pages describe patent/trademark/copyright/trade-secret work plus licensing, JDAs, and IP due diligence. [source:parsons-behle-latimer-official-website] - The Securities & Capital Markets page explicitly addresses "startup, middle market, and other emerging growth companies" and angel-to-venture financing. - Attorney profiles carry an "Emerging Companies & Venture Capital" practice tag, and the firm publicly references representing Utah technology companies in capital-financing rounds. - The IP practice reports recognition such as World Trademark Review's "WTR 1000" — a reputational signal, not a fit guarantee. ## Good Matches A good match is an IP-centric Utah venture — software, hardware, life sciences, or a university spinout — that needs licensing and IP-transaction counsel alongside financing support. Researchers commercializing patented work may find the combination of IP-transaction depth and securities counsel especially relevant when negotiating a license out of a university and raising a first round at the same time. ## Cautions This page describes public capabilities; it is not a claim that the firm has agreed to represent anyone or quoted terms. Confirm conflicts, the responsible attorney, office, and fee structure before relying on the firm for a deadline-driven deal. For the very earliest stage, weigh firm rates against simpler options. ## Evidence - [Parsons Behle & Latimer Official Website](parsons-behle-latimer-official-website.md) ## Open Questions - Which named attorneys are the best first contacts for IP transactions versus securities/financing work? - Does the firm offer early-stage or flat-fee arrangements for first-time founders? - How does its startup IP-transaction depth compare with a patent-focused boutique like [Workman Nydegger](workman-nydegger.md) for pure patent prosecution?