Stephen P. Hanson

Steve is highly attuned to the business and legal needs of his clients. He brings a practical business acumen to guide his clients through the complexity of each transaction and prides himself on his long-existing client relationships. Solution-oriented, Steve provides strategic advice and counsel.

Client Work

Steve has over 25 years of experience providing counsel and strategic advice to private equity funds, venture capital funds, corporate venture teams, public and private companies, and management teams, on private buy-and sell-side transactions, including leveraged buyouts and add-on/bolt-on transactions, venture capital and emerging company financings, joint ventures and LP secondaries.  Steve began his career with O’Sullivan Graev & Karabell LLP, the then-preeminent private equity and venture capital boutique law firm, when private equity and venture capital asset classes became institutionalized and the venture capital boom of the dot.com era was at its peak.  His experience spans a variety of industries, from aerospace to insurance to semiconductors, with an emphasis across the consumer-related industries of sports, beverage and food, entertainment, media and fashion.

Steve serves as outside general counsel to a major sports league, including advising the league in connection with expansion plans, team transfers, and other team- and owner-related matters, and over his career has represented investors in sports teams, and investors and companies in media and entertainment, men’s and women’s fashion, food packaging, craft brewing, restaurants, discount grocery chains, and specialty chemicals companies that help create everyday products that consumers use.

As a founding member of ArentFox Schiff’s Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) practice, Steve also helps clients understand that the application of ESG/Sustainability principles doesn’t have to be at the expense of their profit considerations - that it is an opportunity to satisfy their fiduciary responsibilities and further their long-term strategic and profit considerations by considering the interests of all of their varied stakeholders and thereby identifying the key risks to avoid and opportunities to pursue.

Publications, Presentations & Recognitions

• Panelist, “Team Sales / Sports M&A,” Fordham Sports Law 27th Annual Symposium, March 8, 2024
• Co-author, “ESG Comparative Guide - United States,” Mondaq, September 21, 2022
• Panelist, “Private Equity M&A Key Deal Terms in a Changing Market,” Stafford CLE Webinar, September 20, 2022
• Moderator, “Mezzanine Lenders: Navigating an Insolvent Borrower,” co-presented by Endicott Peabody IV (Kit), Stephen P. Hanson and Patrick M. Birney, as part of the Small Business Investor Alliance’s (SBIA) Lunch & Learn Webinar Series, November 4, 2020

Life Beyond the Law

A native of Minneapolis, Steve currently lives with his daughter in New York City. He enjoys skiing, running, golfing, and travel.