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Shook Law

Boutique technology law firm.

Our team of humans is committed to excellence, winning hard fights, tireless advocacy, and practical counsel for our clients’ toughest challenges.

The firm

In a world scrambling to develop robot lawyers, we believe the human driving law practice is fundamental.

The legal industry is shifting back toward lean teams of dedicated advocates and counselors who live and breathe their clients’ business. We are rebuilding legal practice from the ground up. Our approach enables us to stand toe to toe with the armies that have proliferated across the industry over the last several decades.

If we are to keep our democracy, there must be one commandment: Thou shalt not ration justice.
Judge Learned Hand — Legal Aid Society of New York, 1951
The most important question to ask your lawyer is whether they still use a keyboard and mouse.
Friend of the Shook firm, 2026

The practice

What we do

Litigation

In less than a month of opening shop, we represent founders, investors, and technology companies in high-stakes disputes, with over half a dozen active matters in state and federal courts in California, D.C., New York, and elsewhere, comprising nine figures in controversy.

CryptoAIDefamationUnfair competitionTrade secrets & trademarksContract disputesComplex commercial disputesTechnology product liability

We are comfortable on both sides of the v: Plaintiff and Defense.

We co-counsel with a trusted network of elite litigators we have known for twenty-plus years — going back to our time as the top high school and college debaters in America.

Fractional general counsel & transactional

We serve as fractional outside general counsel for multiple fast-growing companies — from innovative AI solutions to cybersecurity platforms to consumer products.

ContractsLicensesFinancingsGeneral corporate advice

We partner with our clients and manage their legal roadmap in a way that enables them to focus on growing their business.

AI & regulatory counseling, investigations, and crisis response

We counsel clients on AI and emerging technology regulation across global jurisdictions.

AIDataNational securityPrivacySecurity incident responseSensitive crisis investigationsCopyrightRight of publicityAnti-circumvention

Adapting policies and risk to agentic workflows.

The people

Our team

Nick Shook, Founder

Nick Shook

Founder

A lawyer who has shipped code. Nick has practiced law for more than ten years and has litigated through the appellate level. He wrote software at Apple — you will not need a translator to explain your stack, your architecture, or what actually broke.

J.D., UNLV LawLicensed in California, Washington & NevadaFormer YC founderAI engineering at AppleEarly engineer at CryptoMove (cybersecurity)
Emilio Menotti, Paralegal

Emilio Menotti

Paralegal

One of the top debaters in the country. Emilio researches legal issues around AI and manages all aspects of our clients’ cases and matters.

UC Berkeley undergrad, Class of 2026Nationally ranked college debaterDeep research on AI legal issues

The bench behind us

A network of co-counsel among the best litigators in the country.

Elite litigators we have known for twenty-plus years, experienced transactional attorneys, and former entrepreneurs. We scale up with them to take on our clients’ hardest problems.

How we run

Technology, AI & pricing

Excellence first

Our approach to every matter is centered on excellence in legal advocacy, first and foremost.

Agentic workflows

We build from a foundation of deep technology innovation in our practice, including agentic workflows that drive quality and efficiency for our clients.

Predictable pricing

Many of our matters involve alternative fee arrangements, including predictable flat monthly fees, and we share risk with our clients.

We believe the leverage AI provides makes the unpredictability and chaos of the billable hour no longer strictly necessary.

Our convictions

What we believe

  • 01

    The gap between top 1% and top 0.1% advocacy is an infinite chasm.

  • 02

    Everything we do centers our clients. We are here to solve problems.

  • 03

    The lawyer doing the work should be close to the matter.

  • 04

    Technology should extend great advocates — never replace them.

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