Scale Up Counsel leverages a strong network of experienced attorneys, including those with personal experience as founders in major tech hubs globally, to provide comprehensive legal support to technology founders.

Our Team

Ezra Clark
Founder & Managing Partner
Education & Credentials
Santa Clara University School of Law (J.D.)
Brigham Young University (B.S. Computer Engineering)
Technology Transactions, Intellectual Property, and Corporate
Ezra represents emerging growth companies as their outside general counsel throughout their life cycle, from securing and leveraging their intellectual property, navigating complex deals, ensuring regulatory compliance, to mitigating risks throughout the commercial lifecycle. With deep expertise in website compliance, XaaS, licensing agreements (software, data, media/copyright), and the fast-evolving legal landscape of machine learning and AI. Ezra also has experience in corporate matters, including company formation, capital raising, and mergers and acquisitions.
Prior to Founding Scale Up Counsel Ezra, worked at Wilson Sonsini, one of the top corporate law firms based in Silicon Valley. While at Wilson Sonsini, Ezra honed the skills required of a General Counsel in working with corporate clients, regularly serving as a key advisor to CEOs and executive teams. He has also provided valuable assistance in numerous legal and administrative matters. As a founder himself he has been through the challenges of building a startup and knows the risks to avoid.

James D. Ford
International Lawyer & Founder of Blue Ocean Law Group
Education & Credentials
Bachelor of Business - Accounting
Bachelor of Laws
Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice
Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors [GAICD]
Certified Information Privacy Professional - United States
Certified in Cybersecurity
U.S. Law Expert – AI Trainer for Pareto.ai
[Ex-Accenture] – I worked for Accenture for 10 years.
U.S. District Court Northern District of California
Pro Bono Publico Attorney (IL & IN, USA)
Admitted to Practice
Australia
New Zealand
California, USA
Commercial Law and Privacy/Cybersecurity Specialist
James is a general practice lawyer focused on delivering value. He is admitted to practice law in California, Australia, and New Zealand. Due to his long history in IT, property development and planning, the majority of legal matters he undertakes are in the areas of property & commercial law, and technology law (incl. privacy & cybersecurity).
He has a wide-range of legal experience, having worked for established boutique property, finance, and commercial law firms along with an award-winning Brisbane firm Nexus Lawyers (formerly Nexus Law Group, now merged with Arch Law). He has volunteered at the Caxton Legal Centre as part of his desire to give back to the community, and offers pro bono (free) legal assistance at his own discretion.
James also has extensive industry experience in IT consulting, having worked on major projects across Asia/Pacific in a wide spectrum of industries including Energy (Woodside), Financial (NAB, NSW State Super, Bank of China), Transport (Air Services, Queensland Rail), and Government (Australian, NZ, and Singapore). He also operated his own transport company for many years while developing strategic residential property projects (both luxury and affordable) and brokering mezzanine finance deals, all of which uniquely informs his continuing specialist legal practice.
Areas of Expertise
- Property Law
- Sustainable Development
- Commercial Law
- Technology Law (incl. Privacy + Cybersecurity)
- Contract Automation + Legal Wizards

Brian Lisonbee
Immigration Attorney
Education & Credentials
B.S. Sociology, Brigham Young University
J.D., University of Nebraska
Admitted to Practice
Federal Law, USA
Nebraska
Immigration Law
Brian Lisonbee, has represented clients and companies in a variety of industries including Biotech, Agriculture, E-commerce, Financial Services, Staffing, Social Media, and more. His goal is to ensure his clients receive exceptional legal advice tailored to their specific needs and objectives.
Brian believes everyone deserves personalized, thorough, and zealous immigration representation. Brian has helped many clients successfully take on the enormous United States immigration machine. His representation is about presenting a client's story in such a way that the person looking at it behind the curtain feels compelled to give them a correct decision. Favorable results are never a guarantee in immigration — but it is possible to control the quality of the information being presented to the United States immigration services.
Brian was born and raised by parents who owned a small cow/calf operation in rural Utah. Hard work and dedication learned on the ranch set the foundation for Brian's career. In college at Brigham Young University and later as a law student at the University of Nebraska, Brian was diligent in his studies, and resolute in his goal to become an attorney. Now, after working for two boutique law firms and one of the largest immigration firms in the world, Brian is able to apply his strong work ethic and legal knowledge on behalf of his own clients.

Rick Smith
Trust and Estate Attorney
Education & Credentials
Juris Doctor, Washburn University School of Law
Bachelor of Science in Communication, Dixie State (now Utah Tech) University
Admitted to Practice
Utah State Courts
Kansas State Courts
U.S. District Court—District of Kansas (inactive)
Membership
Utah State Bar
Southern Utah Bar Association
J. Reuben Clark Law Society
Trust and Estate Law
Rick is an attorney licensed in Utah and Kansas with experience in probate, estate planning, real estate, water/oil/gas/mineral interests, business, trust administration, guardianship, adoption, civil disputes, and recently criminal defense. After several years of living outside of Utah, Rick and his family returned to Southern Utah prepared to give back to the community. Rick's current focus is the goal of becoming a prosecutor with Washington County.
Before starting his own practice, Rick worked with a small law firm in Topeka, Kansas, doing primarily estate planning, probate, guardianship, and adoption. Prior to becoming a licensed attorney, he worked as an assistant for another estate planning attorney and on the legal team of a nationwide asset protection company.
During law school, Rick interned with the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) and was an assistant to a tax professor. He also received two distinguished awards, one of which took him to Washington D.C., where he met with a U.S. Supreme Court Justice.
Prior to law, Rick was a teacher in a religious seminary and later interned with the United States Senate. He developed a passion for teaching and working with people directly—which has become the core of his law practice. Rick spends time educating clients and ensuring they are prepared to confidently make important decisions.
Rick has studied the U.S. Constitution and history, and believes it is important for each generation to learn, teach, and support the founding values of freedom—civility, integrity, work, accountability, service, sacrifice, self-discipline, faith, family, respect, charity, and so on—to maintain a free and prosperous society. Rick participates in legal conferences each year that bring together scholars, practitioners, and government and religious leaders from around the world who are committed to promoting and protecting these values.
Areas of Expertise
- Probate
- Estate Planning
- Real Estate
- Water/Oil/Gas/Mineral Interests
- Business Law
- Trust Administration
- Guardianship
- Adoption
- Civil Disputes
- Criminal Defense

Work with our experienced team
Schedule a consultation to discuss how we can help your startup navigate complex legal challenges and set you up for success.