Our story
goodcounsel was founded to serve the needs of early-stage companies and entrepreneurs.
Ken Obel, the firm’s founder and principal attorney, came to understand the needs of growing businesses in the most direct way possible: by starting one. From that experience and serving in business and legal roles in other entrepreneurial companies for another decade thereafter, Ken developed a strong vision of what the delivery of legal services to entrepreneurial companies should look like. goodcounsel was founded on this vision.
In goodcounsel, emerging companies have a legal partner that balances the risk-taking that is the life-blood of entrepreneurship and the risk management that is the traditional domain of the lawyer.
A decade on, as the pool of startups in cities like Chicago and New York has expanded by leaps and bounds, the firm’s orientation to value and emphasis on simplicity continues to resonate in the startup community, and our team has grown to meet demand.
Our team
Our attorneys were drawn to goodcounsel – often from comfortable positions at prestigious law firms – by a desire to be entrepreneurial in the service of entrepreneurs:
• to focus on client value rather than billable hours
• to deploy technology for maximum efficiency and convenience, and
• to cut through legal jargon and cut down legal documents
The entire goodcounsel team shares this vision of an innovative, accessible law firm.
Click below to learn about the legal innovators who comprise goodcounsel.
 Kenneth Obel, Principal Attorney |
 Joyce Chen, Attorney |
 Elmer Thoreson, Attorney |
 Natalie Nunnally, Paralegal |
 Jeremy Gershfeld, Director of Culture and Learning |
 Dodger Obel, Top Dog |