LEGAL SUPPORt

Serious legal support, zero founder fees.

Fully subsidized legal services for tech entrepreneurs – designed to support your startup’s early growth and reduce risk

Startup law, in-house and on the house.

DMZ Startup Legal Support Centre is for founders in our Incubator program, giving them peace of mind with expert legal support—so startups can focus on growing, not guessing.

Fractional general counsel

Tailored support for fast-growing founders and early-stage startups.

Hands-on guidance

Strategy sessions, custom contracts and risk-mitigation planning.

Built-in legal team

Support from business advisors, lawyers and dedicated students.

Pro bono services

Saving founders time and thousands of dollars in legal fees.

I’ve been in the founder’s seat—moving fast, taking bold bets, and hitting walls that shouldn’t be there. At DMZ, we’re rethinking legal support by embedding responsive counsel directly into the startup journey—removing roadblocks before they appear so founders can build with confidence.

Nicholas Hill

Head, DMZ Legal Services & Legal Advisor

Legal support,
‍built for founders.

Incubator founders have access to a full suite of resources including DMZ legal support, which offers legal strategy sessions, custom contract drafting and practical legal training.

Questions? Let’s talk.

Legal strategy sessions

Pinpoint your startup’s legal needs early to reduce risk and avoid costly issues later.

Custom contract drafting

Request tailored legal documents—handled by our in-house team and partner law firms.

Legal education & training

Learn the basics with 1:1 guidance and workshops so you can learn and confidently manage your companies legal needs.

Questions? Let’s Talk

Areas of support.

DMZ legal support gives startups peace of mind with expert legal support—from strategy to paperwork—so founders can focus on growing, not guessing.

CORPORATE & COMMERCIAL WORK

Incorporation

Drafting or amending Articles of Incorporation (establishing two class share structure)

Customary by-laws

Shareholder and Founder Agreements

Advisor Agreements

Non-Disclosure Agreements (Mutual and 
One-Way)

Terms of Service and Privacy Policy for website

Drafting and reviewing of SaaS agreements

EMPLOYMENT LAW

Stock Option Plans

Employment Agreements (fixed and indefinite terms)

Independent Contractor Agreements

Co-Op Student Employment Agreements

Legal Strategy Sessions

Termination agreements

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Confidentiality and Ownership of Proprietary Property (CIOPP) Agreement

Basic Trademark Searches

Legal Strategy Sessions

Preliminary assessments on possible trademark ownership and conflicts

Guidance on copyright ownership

Transfer of IP ownerships between developer and organization

Meet the team.

Meet the professionals and legal experts offering insights, support, and real-world legal solutions that scale.

Tanya Darisi

Startup Legal Advisor

As a Startup Legal Strategist, Tanya supports DMZ and its portfolio of startups by providing guidance and support for legal needs, problem solving, and strategic legal solutions.

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Tanya is co-founder of Openly, a certified B-Corp designed to support changemakers achieve social and environmental good. She has more than 20 years experience working across the public, private and nonprofit sectors, where her core contributions have included strategy, applied research and organizational development. She is founding partner of Rhyze, a program designed for and by women entrepreneurs.

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As an entrepreneur and business owner herself, Tanya brings direct insight into what it takes to navigate the complexities and demands of a start-up. Tanya shifted her career in 2022, when she brought her drive and passion for supporting entrepreneurs and the start up ecosystem to the study of law. Tanya holds a Masters Degree in Applied Social Psychology from the University of Guelph. She has a certificate in Impact Investing from Oxford – Saïd Business School and is currently a J.D candidate at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law.

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When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A cross between Robin Hood and Sherlock Holmes.

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Favourite movie?

Bladerunner

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Favourite quote?

"We're all stories in the end. Just make it a good one."

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What’s the first thing you’d buy if you won a million dollars?

Another pair of Fluevogs.

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First record you bought?

Disintegration, The Cure.

Nicholas Hill

Head, Startup Legal Support & Legal Advisor

As the DMZ Startup Legal Support (“SLS”) Lead Nicholas works with Strategic Initiatives to develop processes and procedures, manage partnering law firm relationships, manage a team of law students, and provide the DMZ startups with accessible and comprehensive legal support.

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While pursuing his undergraduate degree at the University of Calgary, Nicholas not only cultivated a passion for understanding how policy and industry function, but also formed a special connection with innovation specifically. In addition to his studies, Nicholas founded a small software firm, designed to modernize the way students interacted with their campus. While navigating all the necessary ups and downs of founding a startup as a full-time student, Nicholas found himself looking at the technology industry through a burgeoning lens of innovative legal solutions. Provided with the unique insight into the complicated landscape of starting and running a technology firm, coupled with a policy and legal based education, Nicholas was resolved to begin his mission to do all that he could to ease the legal processes and complexities faced by technological innovators in their attempt to drive the Canadian economy forward. After his first year of law school at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law, Nicholas realized that this is a mission he shared with DMZ.

Favourite quote?

"[Some] see things as they are, and ask “Why?” But I dream things that never were; and ask “Why not?” - George Bernard Shaw

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Have you ever gotten starstruck?

Danny Trejo (the uncle from Spy Kids) has asked me for directions on two separate occasions. I was no help to him either time, and the first time I met him all I could muster was "Wait, are you famous?"

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Piece of technology you can’t live without?

Does Google count? Because Google is my answer.

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First record you bought?

Smash Mouth's album unimaginatively called Smash Mouth.

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Pick one song to be your non-stop background music?

9 to 5 by Dolly Parton.

See All Experts-in-Residence >

Our partners.

MinuteBox is a cloud-based legal entity management platform that provides automated legal compliance solutions. It is designed to help businesses, particularly corporate law firms, centralize and manage their corporate records, minute books, and compliance obligations in a secure, digital format.

The Lincoln Alexander School of Law at Toronto Metropolitan University is reimagining legal education in pursuit of a more just society. Its mission is to equip the lawyers of tomorrow with the contemporary skills and experience required to expand the reach of justice and respond to the evolving challenges that face Canadian society. Law students interested in working for the Startup Legal Support program can email the DMZ to inquire about opportunities here.