I
Mergers & Acquisitions
Buy-side and sell-side counsel for middle-market and emerging growth companies — letters of intent, diligence, definitive agreements, and post-closing transition planning.
Established Counsel · Southern California
Christopher
M. Lekawa
Corporate, M&A, commercial, and real estate transaction counsel for founders, operators, investors, and emerging growth companies.
Senior legal judgment for business moments that require clarity, discretion, and clean execution.
M&A Commercial Transactions Real Estate
Commercial judgmentFounder fluencyQuiet execution
Counsel
For business owners and referral partners who need a steady transaction lawyer, not a louder process.
Chris advises middle-market companies, real estate investors, and emerging growth ventures across the full arc of a transaction — from formation and capitalization through acquisition, joint venture, recapitalization, and exit.
Best Fit
When the matter needs senior attention.
- A founder is selling, buying, or recapitalizing a privately held company.
- An operator needs a steady legal partner for contracts, governance, and risk decisions.
- An investor or real estate sponsor needs commercial judgment at the deal table.
- A referral partner needs a responsive senior attorney for a sensitive transaction.
Areas of Practice
A focused practice,
built on the transaction.
II
Outside General Counsel
Practical day-to-day legal support for founders and operators without an in-house team, from contract review to governance and strategic decisions.
III
Commercial Transactions
Drafting and negotiating the operating agreements that move a business — services, licensing, distribution, vendor, and partnership arrangements.
IV
Corporate Governance
Entity formation, equity structures, shareholder and operating agreements, fiduciary counseling, and board-level matters.
V
Real Estate Transactions
Acquisition, disposition, leasing, financing support, and joint-venture work for commercial real estate investors and operators.
VI
Investor & Founder Counsel
Recapitalizations, joint ventures, equity rollovers, and negotiated documents that align founders, operators, and capital partners.
Approach
Clear advice, clean documents, and a steady closing cadence.
Frame the business objective
Start with the transaction, risk profile, timeline, and practical outcome the client needs — then shape the legal work around that objective.
Draft and negotiate cleanly
Keep documents precise, readable, and commercial. Focus negotiation energy on the provisions that actually change risk or economics.
Stay close through closing
Coordinate diligence, revisions, signatures, and closing mechanics with a calm cadence so business owners can keep operating.
Profile
A practitioner's
résumé.
For more than two decades, Chris has counseled founders, operators, investors, and referral partners through the transactions that define their businesses.
As Chair and Managing Partner of Grant Genovese & Baratta LLP, Chris leads a corporate practice focused on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, recapitalizations, commercial transactions, governance, and commercial real estate.
His practice is built on long-tenured client relationships and a preference for practical counsel: direct communication, disciplined drafting, and thoughtful risk allocation.
Chris is admitted to practice in California and Washington and has been recognized as a Southern California Rising Star.
Admissions
CaliforniaWashington
Recognition
Southern CaliforniaRising Stars
Role
Chair &Managing Partner
Firm
Grant Genovese& Baratta LLP
Firm Affiliation
GGB
Chair & Managing Partner
Grant Genovese & Baratta LLP
Chris's primary practice and full firm biography are maintained at Grant Genovese & Baratta LLP. Lekawa Law serves as a personal referral and introduction destination — formal engagements are handled through the firm.
Get in Touch
Begin a conversation.
Direct contact for referrals, introductions, and new matters. Please avoid sending confidential information until a formal engagement is in place.
Formal engagements are processed through Grant Genovese & Baratta LLP.