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Magic Circle trained · Managing Partner, Prencipe International

Joe Prencipe.

Magic Circle and Wall Street training, brought to privately held companies. I sue, I defend, I sell, I buy, and I sit on the owner's side of every decision in between — the same standard of representation the largest companies buy, for the people who actually built something.

★★★★★ 5.0 · 24 Google reviews
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What I do

Five practices, one guide.

Most owners meet a lawyer at a single moment and never see the rest of the map. I work the whole of it — bringing the case, defending the case, selling the company, buying the company, and the ordinary decisions in between that quietly decide all four.

Plaintiff

01

Plaintiff

You were wronged and you are the one bringing it. Contract, fraud, fiduciary duty, partnership.
Defense

02

Defense

You have been sued and the clock is already running. Answer, motions, and the first thirty days.
Selling

03

Selling a business

The exit you get one attempt at. Letter of intent through closing and the indemnity that outlives it.
Buying

04

Buying a business

Diligence, structure and consents, including the constraints an SBA lender has already decided for you.
Owner advisory

05

Owner advisory

The standing counsel role. Contracts, partners, employees, risk — the decisions that decide the other four.
Joe Prencipe, Managing Partner of Prencipe International, a Magic Circle trained business litigation and M&A lawyer

Background

Where the standard came from.

Magic Circle and global elite firms, then the SEC, then four years building and selling technology companies of my own. The training is what the largest companies in the world pay for. The perspective is that I have been the client too — which is a different thing from having read about it.

Now
Prencipe International — Managing PartnerPlaintiff and defense litigation, buy- and sell-side M&A, and standing counsel to owners.
2019 — 2020
SizzleTechnology startup in ghost kitchens. Sold.
2016 — 2019
McLear & Co.Technology startup and inventor of the smart ring. Sold.
2015 — 2016
Hyperloop OneEarly-stage transport technology company, with Richard Branson and Elon Musk involved. Later Virgin Hyperloop.
2015
Baker McKenzieAssociate. Cross-border corporate and M&A.
2013 — 2015
Freshfields Bruckhaus DeringerAssociate. Magic Circle, international transactions.
2012 — 2013
Morgan, Lewis & BockiusSummer associate and law clerk, international M&A and finance.
2011 — 2012
U.S. Securities and Exchange CommissionLaw clerk, Division of Enforcement — Investigations and Litigation.
Earlier
Seattle City Attorney’s OfficePublic-side litigation experience.
Law school
University of Washington School of LawJuris Doctor.
Law school
Waseda University School of LawHalf of law school in Tokyo, at Japan's top-ranked law faculty.
What I write

I publish what I would tell you on the call.

Three running publications, written for the person on the wrong end of the problem rather than for other lawyers. No case studies, no results, no war stories — just the mechanics, with the authority cited so you can check me.

The Docket

The Docket

For companies that have been sued

New York commercial litigation defense: deadlines, motions, guaranties, and what actually happens after service.
The Seller's Library

The Seller's Library

For owners selling a business

Letter of intent, price mechanics, working capital, earn-outs, escrows, and the indemnity that outlives closing.
The Closing Table

The Closing Table

For owners buying a business

Diligence, structure, consents, SBA 7(a) constraints, and the conditions that decide whether you close.
Heard on

When a business show needs a lawyer who can actually explain it.

Full episodes, nothing gated, no signup.

Listen

▶
Wealth Juice
“Stop Using ChatGPT for Legal Advice” — the former Wall Street lawyer here to save you thousands.
50 min · Jun 2026 · Listen →
Listen

▶
Wealth Formula
Episode 564 — buying and selling a business or a practice, and how the deal actually gets structured.
26 min · Jun 2026 · Listen →
Straight answers

The questions people actually ask.

Who is Joe Prencipe?

Joe Prencipe is the Managing Partner of Prencipe International. He trained at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, a Magic Circle firm, and at Baker McKenzie, clerked at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and then spent four years building and selling technology companies before founding the firm.

What kind of law does Joe Prencipe practise?

Five practices for privately held companies: bringing cases as plaintiff, defending companies that have been sued, representing owners selling a business, representing buyers acquiring one, and acting as standing counsel to owners on the decisions in between.

Where did Joe Prencipe go to law school?

He earned his Juris Doctor at the University of Washington School of Law and spent half of law school at Waseda University School of Law in Tokyo, Japan’s top-ranked law faculty.

Has Joe Prencipe sold a business himself?

Yes. He was an operator before he was a founder of his own firm: Hyperloop One, the Branson- and Musk-associated transport venture, then McLear & Co., the company that invented the smart ring, and then Sizzle, a ghost-kitchen technology company. McLear and Sizzle were both sold.

What size deals and cases does Joe Prencipe handle?

Privately held companies, with sale and acquisition work concentrated at $50 million enterprise value and below, a substantial share of it financed under the SBA 7(a) programme.

Does Joe Prencipe represent both buyers and sellers?

Yes, but never both in the same transaction. In any one deal he acts for one party and only that party.

If you are reading this, something has already started.

A complaint with a clock on it, or an offer with a number on it. Either way the first conversation is free and you will get a straight read on where you actually stand.

Talk to me