To understand VLR, and if we can add value to your business, you need to understand our focus and expertise and the principles that  led to the establishment of our firm:

Thomas J. Puff, Esq.;  Founder and  President.

Mr. Puff Chairs our Corporate, Securities Law and Emerging Companies Practice Groups. He has spent his entire 23-year career practicing in the areas of corporate finance law, securities law, corporate law and mergers and acquisitions and serving rapidly growing private and public companies. Prior to founding VLR,  he was a Shareholder at Winthrop & Weinstine in Minneapolis and Chaired that firm's Securities Law and Emerging Companies Practice Groups. Prior to that, he was a longetime shareholder and Chaired the Corporate Finance  and M & A Groups  at Messerli & Kramer, in Minneapolis, where he built these practice groups, in only a few years, to two of the largest in the firm.

 Mr. Puff has assisted issuers, underwriters and emerging private and public companies in Minnesota, the Midwest and across the country with financings aggregating over $550 million and has worked with numerous national investment bankers, institutional investors and venture capitalists. He has assisted many entrepreneurs and rapidly growing private and public companies across the United States in securing equity and debt capital, as well as with their corporate and commercial needs. His extensive network of  friends and clients who are directors, CEO's, venture capitalists and 'angel' investors  is one of the strongest in the region and is  a significant  asset to VLR and its clients.

 In 1996, Mr. Puff was appointed by Governor Carlson to a Blue Ribbon Commission of Minnesota securities lawyers to revise Minnesota's securities laws and to effect those changes in the Minnesota legislature. From 1993-1996, he was elected  Chairman of the Corporate Counsel Section of the Hennepin County Bar Association, an industry trade group serving the needs of corporate counsel and their corporate staff.

 Mr. Puff is a frequent speaker, panelist and commentator on various legal topics, including corporate law, governance, venture capital, securities law compliance, raising capital and mergers and acquisitions.  Mr. Puff received his B.A. (Magna Cum Laude) with Honors and Departmental Distinction (Political Science) from Saint Olaf College in 1983 and received his J.D. (Cum Laude) from The American University Law School in Washington, D.C. in 1986.  He has served on various boards and is a Member at Olympic Hills Golf Club in Eden Prarie. He and his four children (Sam, Connor, Hannah and Sophia) live in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

Our Founding and Governing Principles

•           Our client's interests always come first.  Our experience shows us that if we serve our clients well, our own success follows. We have an uncompromising determination to achieve excellence for each client we agree to represent.  Although we may be involved in a wide variety and heavy volume of activity, we will always choose to be the best  and most focused corporate law firm in Minnesota and our region, rather than simply one of the largest.

•           We consider our size an asset that we try hard to preserve.  We are experienced and savvy enough to undertake the largest project that any of our clients could contemplate.  However, we will remain nimble enough to maintain the loyalty, service and collegiality that has contributed to our success and that we believe is very unique among law firms.

•            Our assets are our people, capital and reputation.  We understand that if the first two of these is ever diminished or damaged, the last is the most difficult to restore.

•           We are unique among law firms. We are unique because we are experts in the legal specialties that all rapidly growing companies need, including venture capital financings, public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, licensing, executive compensation and taxation. 

•           Integrity and honesty are at the heart of our business and the service we provide.  We expect our partners, associates and employees to maintain the highest ethical standards in both their work and personal lives.

•           Our business is highly competitive and we aggressively seek to expand our client relationships in Minnesota, across the Upper Midwest and the United States.  However, we have always been, and always will be, fair competitors and will never denigrate other law firms or lawyers in our profession.

•           We don't try to represent everyone. Because we are very selective on the clients we represent, we are not the appropriate firm for every company. We will only choose to represent those growth companies where our expertise, focus and partnership will add the most value.

•           Profitability is critical to our success.  It replenishes our capital and helps us retain our key partners, our best attorneys and our staff.  It is our practice to share profits with those who help create them.  Like you and your business, profitability is crucial to our future.