// Resource library

Guides for people who want to understand the next step.

Plain-English resources for startup founders and FINRA compliance teams: launch and entity basics, broker-dealer fundamentals, and what to organize before a compliance consultation.

Dontay Phillips reviewing a client’s file at the firm’s office

Guides and tools

New · Website review

Startup Website Compliance Scan

Review up to five public pages for tracker, form, testimonial, marketing-claim, and business-identity signals.

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Startups

Startup Legal Launch Checklist

Formation, founders, IP, contracts, financing, and a section for student founders.

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Business · Startups

Business Entity Selection Guide

LLC, corporation, S-corp election, professional and nonprofit corporations, with a Missouri filing-fee reference.

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FINRA

FINRA Compliance Readiness Checklist

Documents and issue areas to organize before a compliance or dispute consultation.

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FINRA · Securities

Broker-Dealer vs. Investment Adviser

Definitions, standards of conduct, registration, and how to verify a professional under Missouri law.

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FINRA · Securities

FINRA Rule 4530 Reporting for Broker-Dealers

Reportable events, the 30-day clock, quarterly complaint reporting, and building a WSP that holds up.

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FINRA · Securities

FINRA Rule 3270 OBA Review

What outside business activities need notice, what's excluded, and how firms evaluate a request.

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Startup counsel

SAFE & Convertible Note Review

Valuation caps, discounts, MFN clauses, and how stacking multiple SAFEs affects your cap table.

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FINRA · Securities

Elder Exploitation & the Aging Advisor

Rule 2165, trusted contacts, and the Senior Safe Act, plus the succession risk firms miss on the advisor's side.

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Startup counsel

AI Governance Checklist for Private Companies

Assign ownership, test high-risk uses, control vendor inputs, and keep marketing and investor claims inside the evidence.

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Startup counsel

Legal Review of Marketing Claims

A pre-launch checklist for testimonials, pricing claims, promotions, AI claims, and disclosures.

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Startup counsel

Consultant Confidentiality Checklist

What to protect, what a written agreement should say, and how to run a controlled handoff before access begins.

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Startup counsel

Arbitration Clauses in Business Contracts

Scope, forum, cost, confidentiality, and the practical questions to settle before you sign.

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