Not Your Typical Firm
Flexible, Accessible, High-Caliber Counsel Backed by Real Experience and Elite Training
Our Clients
Launch Legal Advisors serves fund managers, institutional sponsors and sophisticated investors who value high-quality legal support without the constraints of traditional firm structures—offering strategic, commercially-aligned counsel that’s both accessible and tailored to their respective stages of growth.
$20M+
Emerging Managers
Firms raising Fund I–III, who are often very lean on operations and are seeking a strategic partner to guide formation, build infrastructure and develop investor confidence.
$100M+
Scaling Firms
Mid-sized funds preparing for institutional capital, professionalizing internal operations, and needing flexible legal support that can scale alongside them.
$250M+
Established Managers
SEC-registered firms looking to optimize internal resources, reduce outside counsel spend, and bring on fractional general counsel for focused initiatives and/or ongoing support.
How It Works
We believe legal services should scale with your business—ensuring the right level of support when it's needed most. Whether you’re an emerging manager who needs guidance through your first raise or an established firm looking for tailored strategic support, we’re able to offer embedded assistance that operates with your growth and investor relationships in mind.
Why Choose Us
Launch Legal Advisors delivers fund-specific legal support that flexes from external counsel to fractional GC—without the overhead of a traditional firm. That means that you’ll have access to deeply thoughtful guidance across fund formation, operations, and scaling, but in a cost-effective model that never sacrifices quality.
Backed by Katherine Stabler and Leslie Pinney, lawyers with elite training and a proven track record, working with Launch Legal Advisors will align your team with legal counsel who’s seen what works—and what doesn’t—across every stage of fund growth.
Meet the Founder
Katherine Stabler is the founding partner of Launch Legal Advisors, a Chicago-based legal strategy firm serving fund managers, financial institutions, and investors nationwide. With over 15 years of experience in private funds and corporate law—including roles at leading firms such as Kirkland & Ellis and Ropes & Gray—she brings a depth of elite legal training and fund-specific expertise to every client engagement.
Throughout her career, Katherine has supported managers who have collectively raised over $10 billion. She has also closed more than 100 private deal transactions, giving her a sharp technical foundation and a nuanced understanding of the complex challenges fund managers may face.
Katherine has held multiple C-suite in-house legal roles and takes a distinctly client-first approach to her work. Known for being exceptionally responsive, deeply strategic, and easy to work with, she builds trust through commercial insight, grounded advice, and a collaborative style that turns legal support into long-term partnerships.
Meet the Partner
Leslie Pinney is a partner at Launch Legal Advisors with big-law experience in fund formation and investment management, representing both institutional investors (including government pension plans, endowments, and foundations) and fund sponsors across private equity, venture capital, private credit and hedge funds on primary fund formations and investments, GP-led restructurings, co-investment vehicles, and fund-of-one transactions.
Leslie brings over eight years of deep expertise to a practice that spans the full spectrum of alternative investments. She combines sharp commercial instincts with a collaborative approach that makes navigating even the most sophisticated transactions feel straightforward. Leslie offers clients a rare blend of analytical rigor, creative problem-solving, and genuine partnership, making her a strategic partner to clients navigating increasingly complex markets and regulatory environments.
Previously, Leslie served as senior counsel at Foley & Lardner, clerked for a federal judge, and was a Tony-nominated Broadway general manager. She earned her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School and her B.A. from Princeton University.
Contact Us
Interested in working together? Contact Katherine Stabler and Launch Legal Advisors for legal support tailored to private funds, institutional sponsors, and sophisticated investors. Fill out the form and we’ll be in touch shortly!