We help clients create and invest for a better world.

Impact Counsel is at the intersection of impact investing and legal counsel. We work with projects, investors, companies and teams focused on sustainability and social impact who mobilize resources to advance the public good.

Practice Summary

Founders and entrepreneurs frequently feel called to solve problems that are bigger than themselves. We focus on helping visionary clients mobilize the resources needed to turn ideas into reality:

Choosing the right business structure;
Accessing investment and resources to scale;
Finding the right business partners to succeed, and
Compliance in environmental, social, and governance.

From working with the world’s largest impact venture fund investing in a client to working with the first African American female owned bookstore in Minneapolis, we love helping people and companies do great things. We have helped launch hundreds of organizations and new businesses, from non-profits to benefit corporations to more traditional LLCs and corporations. We have assisted in securing billions of dollars in project finance, growth and working capital and ongoing investment. We work with impact and infrastructure investors to invest in and buy successful and growing impact companies.

Many of our clients want their businesses to benefit society as well as our economy and the environment. We serve companies working to create positive impact in many industries in our economy, including financial services, Fintech, e-commerce, healthcare, as well as businesses that serve or directly assist underestimated populations. These social businesses need investment capital to create positive change in social issues. We bring our deep financing experience to the process of forming, building and operating sustainable social impact ventures.

We take ownership of the legal aspects of impact companies and projects, leveraging our colleagues as required, including in real estate, IP licensing, employment law, succession planning, mergers and acquisitions, public finance, corporate finance and other areas that will be necessary to support your next sustainability or social venture project.

When needed, we also utilize the talents of other lawyers and experts to serve as local counsel or specialized counsel or experts. In a world where the best lawyer or expert is only an email or Zoom call away, we can help you find the best resource wherever they may be located and manage that relationship seamlessly.

Attorneys

IMPACT COUNSEL MINNEAPOLIS MN

Working with Leading Industries to Make an Impact

Our client’s Impact spans all industries. A few of those we have worked with include:

Renewable Energy, including wind, solar and biomass power generation;
Energy Efficiency, including cleantech, building controls;
Waste Reduction, including renewable natural gas generation, organics and composting;
Circular Economy, including waste diversion and reuse;
Sustainable Products, including green chemistry and bioplastics;
Social Ventures, such as benefit corporations, nonprofits and cooperatives;
Tribal Corporations and joint ventures; including locally-owned utilities and economic development projects;
Sustainable Agriculture and Alternative Proteins, including value-added products, and
Investment Across all Markets, particularly impact investments and related Funds.

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Impact Counsel Clients

We work with a wide variety of clients on many different impact projects. From helping companies connect with investors, to supporting project developers and social and non-profit organizations, Avisen Legal will help you navigate the business and legal issues facing entrepreneurs and anyone with a self-defined purpose to create positive impact.

Our Unique Approach to Impact Counsel

We are business and impact advisors – who happen to be lawyers. We are grounded in Midwestern values with broad national reach. In fact, the breadth and depth of our individual and shared experience allows us to deliver our services on par with much larger competitor law firms and at a far better value. Most importantly, we work with our clients – particularly in our Impact Counsel practice – to ensure every aspect of impact work is crafting to maximize success, economically and in advancing your purpose.

Our Impact Counsel team is deliberately structured to build on our professional and personal synergy, including decades of experience in impact project finance and securities law; unique experience as a lawmakers and White House Task Force Chair and national leadership in nonprofits and social enterprises. We apply our hard-won lessons and deep experience across the impact landscape to advance our clients’ in sustainability and in social ventures.

But ultimately, we believe we are different because we truly and passionately care about our own impact in the world. That impact is expressed through our legal work in this area, as well as in our own lives where we dedicate significant time and effort to various worthy causes.