Volta Counsel

For new world
companies navigating
old world markets.

Senior counsel for founders, operators, and ambitious companies who need rigorous legal guidance — without the overhead of a traditional law firm.

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New York  ·  London voltacounsel.com
Formed At
Kirkland & Ellis
Cooley
BHP Group
About Volta

The counsel your company
needs before it needs
a law firm.

Most companies approaching public markets face a false choice: BigLaw rates for work that doesn't require a full team, or a full-time GC hire they're not ready for.

Volta is the third option. Senior securities and governance counsel available on a retainer that works for your stage, not a billing model designed for someone else's economics.

Founded by Chi Vo Kavanaugh, whose practice spans top-tier BigLaw transaction work and genuine in-house leadership, Volta exists because the most ambitious companies — the ones rewriting categories, building new asset classes, accessing markets their founders were never supposed to enter — deserve counsel that has actually been inside the rooms they're trying to reach.

Particular experience with
Technology  ·  Artificial Intelligence  ·  Crypto & Digital Assets
Life Sciences  ·  Consumer  ·  Gaming & Entertainment
Cross-Border & Foreign Private Issuers
$10B+
Transaction value advised across capital markets, IPOs, and liability management
10+ Years
Years advising public and pre-public companies on securities law
BigLaw & In-House
Partner-track transaction experience combined with senior in-house leadership — a rare combination
Practice Areas

What Volta does for companies
at the critical turn.

Fractional General Counsel
An embedded legal partner on a monthly retainer — attending board meetings, advising management, and building your legal infrastructure before you're ready to hire full-time.
SEC Compliance & Reporting
10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, proxy statements, and Exchange Act compliance managed with the rigor of a top firm, without the overhead of one.
Corporate Governance
Board advisory, committee structures, governance frameworks, and company secretarial support. Built to actually work for your board, not to check a box.
M&A & Strategic Transactions
Securities law counsel on acquisitions, dispositions, and strategic transactions covering disclosure obligations, board processes, and shareholder approvals.
IPO Readiness & Capital Markets
Pre-IPO governance structuring, S-1 preparation support, exchange listing readiness, and ongoing capital markets counsel for companies approaching or navigating the public markets.
Cross-Border & Foreign Private Issuer
US securities counsel for international companies listing on US exchanges, with deep experience advising UK, European, and Nordic companies accessing US capital markets.
Background

Counsel who has been
inside the room.

My practice spans the full spectrum, from advising on billion-dollar capital markets transactions at Kirkland & Ellis and Cooley, to serving as Company Secretary Americas at BHP, one of the world's largest companies by market capitalization.

At Kirkland & Ellis, I worked across New York, London, and Houston on some of the most complex capital markets transactions in the market: senior notes offerings, cross-border IPOs, SPAC and deSPAC transactions, liability management, and ongoing SEC compliance for major public companies. At Cooley, I focused on leading technology and life sciences companies navigating US listings.

At BHP, I moved from advising boards to leading inside them, building governance infrastructure for a global public company and understanding what companies actually need from their legal partners.

Volta exists because the companies that most need senior securities judgment are often least well-served by traditional law firm models. I built the practice I wished existed and I keep it deliberately small.

Capital Markets Kirkland & Ellis
Tech & Life Sciences Cooley
Company Secretary BHP Group
Education Washington & Lee School of Law
Chi Vo Kavanaugh
Chi Vo Kavanaugh Founder, Volta Counsel
Contact

Whether you're preparing for a listing, navigating your first proxy season, or looking for a senior legal partner on retainer.

I work with a small number of clients at a time. By design. If you're building something serious, let's talk.

Email chi@voltacounsel.com
Based New York  ·  London
LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/chivokavanaugh