Ian R. Cohen

About

I'm the founder and principal of IRC Legal, a boutique firm on Long Island. I do two things: strategic M&A counsel and fractional General Counsel work for founders, operators, and investors. I came up through Manhattan BigLaw, first at Schulte Roth & Zabel, then at BakerHostetler, doing strategic and cross-border M&A and advising boards. Then I went in-house as General Counsel of a venture-backed tech company that became PE-backed, nearly went public, and then unwound. I ran legal through every phase of that. 17+ years of legal experience, 500+ closed transactions, $3B+ in aggregate deal value, including two billion-dollar sales of PE-backed companies. On the M&A side, I handle buy-side and sell-side deals end to end: LOIs, definitive agreements, diligence, disclosure schedules, RWI, and closing. On the fractional GC side, I run legal for companies that need a real GC and can't yet justify one full-time: commercial contracts, employment, equity and cap table work, vendor and platform agreements, and the judgment calls that come with all of it. The firm is also Bitcoin-native. I accept BTC for fees, advise clients on digital-asset structuring and custody, and take a treasury position on it myself. What to send me: lower-middle-market M&A where the client needs someone who has actually closed the deal type before, fractional GC engagements for post-seed through growth-stage companies, and anything touching Bitcoin or digital assets where the lawyer has to understand how the thing actually works. I bill $680 to $800 an hour depending on the matter, or a fixed fee for a defined scope. I'm here to refer as much as to receive. I get inbound regularly that is outside my lane (litigation, IP, immigration, tax) and I would rather hand it to someone in this network than turn it away.

Practice Areas

Services

• M&A, Buy-Side and Sell-Side

  End-to-end on lower-middle-market acquisitions and exits: LOI, diligence, the purchase agreement, disclosure schedules, RWI, ancillaries, and closing. 500+ closed deals, including two billion-dollar sales of PE-backed companies. I've done your deal type before, and I run it like it matters, because it does.
  Contact
• Fractional General Counsel

  A real GC for companies that need one and can't yet justify one full-time: commercial contracts, employment, equity and cap table, vendor and platform agreements, and the judgment calls in between. I've sat in the in-house chair through a raise, a PE deal, a near-IPO and an unwind, so I know what the job actually is.
  Contact
• LOI Review and Negotiation

  Most deal terms are set at the LOI, not the purchase agreement. I review and negotiate the LOI before you sign it, so price, structure, escrow, exclusivity and working capital don't get locked in by default.
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Work

• 
  General Counsel

  Packable

  Jan 2023 - Apr 2026
• General Counsel

  Pharmapacks

  Sep 2019 - Jan 2023
• 
  Associate

  BakerHostetler

  Aug 2015 - Aug 2019

Education

• Hofstra University - School of Law
  J.D.