Ryan Juliano

About

Ryan Juliano is the founder of Darwin Legal, a subscription-based legal practice serving early-stage technology startups. He works with founders from company formation through Series A and beyond on fundraising, commercial contracts, corporate governance, team building, and strategic transactions. After starting his career at Kirkland & Ellis advising public companies and private equity funds, Ryan spent a decade at Howell Legal developing innovative service models for early-stage technology companies. He launched Darwin Legal in 2025 to build a firm fully committed to the subscription model that makes proactive legal counsel accessible for growing startups.

Practice Areas

Featured Clients

HelainaBuilder Prime

Services

• Origins Package

  Company formation, structure review, or equity cleanup • Essential templates (NDAs, employment docs, governance) • IP & equity foundation • 2hrs collaborative legal roadmapping • 90-day quick question support
  $4,500
• Fractional GC - Select Tier

  10% fractional general counsel for funded startups. Unlimited quick consultations • 18 standard tasks per quarter (contracts, board consents, employment docs) • 1 complex project per quarter (major agreements, handbooks, equity plans) • Monthly strategy session • Weekly work-in-progress reports • Fundraising term sheet support • Annual compliance & governance Legal partnership that scales with your growth.
  $2,500/monthly
• Fractional GC - Evolved Tier

  20% fractional general counsel for scaling companies. Unlimited quick consultations • 36 standard tasks per quarter • 2 complex projects per quarter • Weekly check-in calls • Monthly strategy sessions • Weekly work-in-progress reports • Board meeting attendance & minutes • Priority response time • Fundraising support Full legal department capacity for Series A+ companies managing boards, rapid hiring, complex partnerships, and investor relations.
  $5,000/monthly

""It's pretty nice to have peace of mind that we've got a daily spot to chat if we ever have an urgent matter. For me, that's the most valuable thing: Being able to know we're on solid ground when it comes to contract and legal matters and not worrying for too long!""

Work

• 
  Shareholder, Senior Attorney and VP of Platform

  Howell Legal

  Aug 2015 - Jun 2025
• 
  Associate

  Partridge Snow & Hahn

  Nov 2014 - Nov 2015
• 
  Associate

  Kirkland & Ellis

  Sep 2011 - Oct 2014

Education

• Cornell University
  B.S. • 2006
• Cornell Law School
  J.D. • 2009
• New York University School of Law
  LL.M, Legal Theory • 2010