Articles

Law As in Lawler

Date: October 22, 2010

By Richard Rabicoff

Citybizlist's Monday story about a financing round for Gaithersburg-based GateKeeperUSA, Inc. concluded with a paragraph that could be a cut-and-paste for many deals over the years:

"Representing GateKeeperUSA in the filing as assistant secretary is George S. Lawler, an attorney at the Towson, Md.-based law firm of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston."

Perennially listed among the "superlawyers" in the region, Lawler specializes in private offerings, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital transactions, and equity-based incentive programs. His bio on Whiteford, Taylor & Preston's website mentions that he has been involved in "hundreds of private offerings."

Citybizlist only sporadically mentions Lawler's legal exploits, as he is by definition behind the scenes and seldom a feature of SEC filings, press releases, or other media resources.

GateKeeperUSA is a security systems company focused on shipping containers. In May citybizlist located Lawler advising Towson-based Raintree Thoroughbred Farm, Inc., a racing industry partnership that was launching a $2.5 million offering. That same month Lawler appeared in our article about Baltimore-based Quantum Life Settlements, LLC, a life insurance company that raised its offering target to $900,000.

In March Lawler represented Ashburn, Va.-based Saxena Company LLC, a real estate development company seeking $50 million.

You will notice that all four clients are based in the Baltimore-D.C. region. And that the offering amounts are on the small side, for companies that are basically start ups.

You'll also notice that four different industries are represented, ranging from tech companies to horsebreeding. If a client list is a portfolio, Lawler is a master of diversification. His bio exhaustively lists his interests as software and hardware companies, homeland security companies, manufacturers, real estate developers, homebuilders, retailers, financial services companies, biotechnology companies, food and beverage companies, venture capital investment vehicles and private investment companies/hedge funds, broker-dealers and investment advisers.

Lawler, who earned his law degree from the University of Maryland (where else?) is clearly an active and energetic participant in capitalizing emerging companies in our region. We will mention him when we can, but otherwise assume he is making his expertise felt.

This article was originally published in the October 22nd issue of CityBizList.