Former General Counsel and Seasoned Practitioner to Lead New Practice Designed to Meet the Needs of a Maturing Impact Sector

New York, NY — RPCK Rastegar Panchal LLP (RPCK), an international law firm focused on providing highly-tailored and innovative solutions to leading impact investors, entrepreneurs and growth enterprises around the world, announced today that Jules Kaufman has joined RPCK to lead a new Social Enterprise Practice to support growth stage companies in the impact investing sector. The Social Enterprise Practice further establishes RPCK’s position at the center of the impact ecosystem, building on the firm’s company-side work by creating a dedicated practice area that complements RPCK’s highly developed fund and investor-side practice.

A global business leader and general counsel, Mr. Kaufman will leverage his vast expertise on behalf of the increasing number of growth companies in the impact investing sector that require more sophisticated legal solutions to support, protect and drive their businesses. Previously, Mr. Kaufman held a variety of executive leadership roles, which include General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Gartner Inc. (NYSE: IT), Coty Inc. (NYSE: COTY) and General Counsel of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) Europe and the South Pacific. Prior to moving to Europe, he served as co-head of corporate legal and Secretary to the Audit Committee of Colgate-Palmolive.

Mr. Kaufman’s career has spanned multiple industries and continents. With experience across global consumer products, information services and beauty industries, he has managed strategic acquisitions, divestitures, corporate restructurings and regulatory issues in Europe, Asia and Latin America. His expertise encompasses cross-border M&A and corporate finance, securities regulation, contract negotiation, IP and regulatory challenges, corporate communications, labor and employment, governance, compliance and ESG.

Chintan Panchal, Founding Partner, RPCK: “As the impact investing sector has evolved and matured, many of the best social enterprises have experienced meaningful growth over the years as their value-added business models have proven out. Now as growth stage enterprises, they face a different set of challenges than they did during startup phases. These challenges require highly informed and sophisticated legal and business perspectives. Jules brings vast experience advising companies of all sizes and across industries and geographies on the full spectrum of business and legal issues that they face – from financing needs to litigation to employment, regulatory and governance issues. This is exactly the kind of practical, experience-driven counsel that we hope to bring to growth stage companies to optimize their potential and deliver double and triple bottom line results.

While RPCK has always had a company-side practice, we have created our Social Enterprise Practice in recognition of the increasing number of growth stage companies in the impact investing sector who will benefit from senior legal and business counsel that can anticipate and solve challenges to their growth. Our new practice deepens our connectivity to the space, and I believe all RPCK clients, including our fund and investor clients, will benefit from Jules’ deep knowledge of how to run a large and growing enterprise. We are excited to welcome him to our firm.”

Jules Kaufman, Partner and Head of the Social Enterprise Practice: “RPCK is uniquely positioned at the center of the impact ecosystem and is itself a mission-aligned social enterprise. So they’ve lived what growth stage companies are living and therefore bring a like-minded perspective and a highly differentiated skillset and vantage point. Growth-stage impact companies will benefit from the same kinds of sophisticated business and legal counsel as traditional large-scale enterprises to help ensure that they have the structures, policies and systems in place to operate and grow in profitable and sustainable ways. There is an enormous opportunity for RPCK’s Social Enterprise Practice to make a meaningful mark on the sector, and I am excited to contribute to this effort.”

Mr. Kaufman’s earlier experience includes private practice in New York City, focusing on securities, M&A, finance and venture capital. He earned his BA from Harvard College and JD from the University of Virginia. He serves as a member of the Board of Mohonk Preserve and Spark Promise Inc. and is an active member of the NY Environmental Conservation Committee in Gardiner, NY. He and his wife are also active impact investors focused on economically viable climate and social justice solutions.

About RPCK Rastegar Panchal LLP

RPCK Rastegar Panchal LLP (RPCK) is an international boutique law firm with a practice focused on providing highly-tailored and innovative solutions to investors, entrepreneurs and growth enterprises around the world. Among our clients are leading family offices and foundations, high growth companies, and investment funds across a broad spectrum of industries throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. RPCK has offices in New York, Vienna and Denver.

Media Contact:

Katy Wilner
424-207-7332
Confluence Partners
kwilner@confluencepartners.com