Vacalis Law advises founders, closely held companies, boards, and executives on the disputes and decisions that shape their next chapter. You work directly with the lawyer who handles your matter, start to finish.
A deliberately narrow practice, built on two decades of commercial litigation and in-house leadership. Each area draws on work done at a national firm and inside a growing company.
Contract, business tort, and fraudulent transfer disputes in Texas state and federal courts. Litigation used deliberately, to create leverage and reach a business result, from demand letter through trial and appeal.
Post-judgment discovery, garnishment, turnover, and asset tracing. Representation of creditors in bankruptcy and adversary proceedings, and defense of parties drawn into collection efforts.
Senior legal leadership for emerging and middle-market companies without a full-time GC: commercial contracts, vendor and customer agreements, outside counsel management, and day-to-day judgment calls.
Board advisory, agendas and minutes, governance practices, and capital raising. Finance and M&A agreements reviewed with a litigator's eye for the provisions that create risk or provide an exit.
Executive offer review and negotiation, noncompete and nonsolicit analysis, and protection for professionals changing roles. Counsel to employers on agreements, policies, and agency charges.
Clinical trial and CRO agreements, regulatory strategy, and licensing for life sciences companies. IP and patent strategy for product companies, from an attorney who is himself a named inventor on a U.S. utility patent.
Every matter starts with a clear read on the risk, the realistic outcomes, and what it will cost to get there.
No hand-offs to junior associates. The attorney you speak with on day one is the attorney who drafts, negotiates, and argues.
Advice is measured against your commercial goals. Sometimes the right answer is a phone call, not a pleading.
Flat-fee and capped arrangements are available for defined projects, with hourly billing reserved for open-ended litigation.
Describe your matter in a few sentences. You will hear back within one business day to schedule an initial consultation.
Emailjvacalis@gmail.com
LocationAustin, Texas
Meetings by appointment
John is a litigator by training and an executive by experience. For more than twenty years he has advised boards, executives, and institutional clients, first at national law firms and now as an executive of a late-stage biotechnology company.
He spent nearly fourteen years at Patton Boggs and Thompson & Knight, where he handled complex, multi-jurisdictional commercial litigation for global financial institutions and counseled companies on contracts, governance, regulatory matters, intellectual property, real estate, and employment. He learned to use litigation strategically, as leverage toward a business outcome rather than an end in itself.
In 2021 he went in-house as President and Chief Legal Officer of a late-stage biotechnology company and opened Vacalis Law the same month. Since then he has led a legal department, run clinical affairs and clinical operations, sat in the boardroom, and led investor relations and capital raising directly with investors. Clients of the firm get that combination: the rigor of a large firm and the perspective of someone who has signed off on the business decision.
Alongside the firm, John holds executive and board roles across life sciences, motorsports, consumer products, and spirits. Each one informs the advice he gives clients.
Late-stage biotechnology company, Austin
Principal legal and strategic adviser to the board. Leads the legal department and the clinical affairs and clinical operations functions for a company of 50+ employees with a fully in-house CRO. Leads investor relations and has been instrumental in raising capital directly from investors, without a placement agent or banker.
Motorsports holding company, Austin
Advises the CEO and executive team on contracts, commercial agreements, disputes, and strategy across a portfolio of performance and electric vehicle brands. Served as Executive Chairman of a hand-built supercar maker through its acquisition by the parent.
Consumer products company, Austin
Co-invented a patented wearable cooling product, inspired by his ultramarathon running, and brought it to market. Leads product, legal, marketing, and operations, and is building out a follow-on patent portfolio.
Award-winning spirits company, Austin
Advises the board, CEO, and President on legal, governance, and business strategy, and helps shape board agendas, minutes, and governance practices.
From a federal clerkship to partnership at a national firm, then into the executive suite.
Founding attorney. Commercial litigation, creditors' rights, and outside counsel for founders and growing companies.
Advised global financial institutions on portfolios, investments, and outside counsel management. Counseled public and private clients on contracts, governance, regulatory matters, IP, real estate, and employment. Represented creditors in bankruptcy and adversary proceedings.
Represented global institutions in complex, multi-jurisdictional commercial litigation in state and federal courts nationwide. Reviewed finance and M&A agreements for provisions that created risk or offered grounds to exit.
Began practice in commercial litigation.
Law clerk to a United States Magistrate Judge, Eastern District of Texas.
A short description is enough to start. You will hear back within one business day.
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