Vanessa L. Bailey

I've spent twelve years in corporate and M&A work. I started in commercial litigation, handling breach-of-contract and failed-M&A claims, and as outside general counsel to start-ups and small to lower-middle-market businesses. I spent time in-house at a real estate development company, then concentrated on the outside general counsel and M&A work I do today. At a national law firm of more than 230 attorneys, I was known as one of its top closers and was nominated for partner about eighteen months in. I left partnership to build businesses of my own, and a firm on my own terms.

Most of the clients I serve are private equity sponsors and the portfolio companies they've built, usually on add-on acquisitions after the platform deal has closed. Beyond that I'm industry agnostic: manufacturing, commercial contracting and managed services, retail, healthcare, telecommunications, energy in both petroleum and solar, technology and SaaS, and construction.

Much of my M&A deal experience specifically is in behavioral health: substance use treatment, mental health and psychiatric practices, ABA and autism services, IDD providers, management services organizations, and home health. Most of it sell-side, representing owners through an exit.

I come from a family of small business owners, and I've started and run businesses of my own. That's why I read a contract the way you do: what does it cost, what does it actually protect, and is it slowing the deal down for no reason. I find the risks that genuinely matter, handle them cleanly, and keep the rest out of your way. I don't overlawyer. I start with a conversation to find out what you actually care about.

Before law school, I started for the University of Hawaii's NCAA Division I women's soccer team on a full athletic scholarship, earning a degree in finance and international business with honors. I still hold the school record for most goals in a single game, and our team won a WAC championship and reached the NCAA Tournament. The discipline that takes never left.

Everything I do is priced by the deliverable, agreed up front. No hourly meter, no surprise invoice. And if I'm not the right fit for what you need, I'll tell you.