My name's Peter Kovalsky. I've been practicing law in California for a decade, focusing primarily on helping small and medium businesses navigate their day-to-day operations. Most of that work has involved reviewing, drafting, and negotiating all manner of contracts for my clients, as well as making sure their copyrights and trademarks are secure and protected. I've worked as an associate attorney at a boutique law firm, as general counsel for an ambitious events-and-marketing startup, and as a solo practitioner. In my pre-law life, I was a translator, editor, and technical writer.

Outside of that, I get nerdy about tech, languages, philosophy, music, games, and other systems. I'm an Extremely Online kind of person and an avid, lifelong gamer.

I also came to this country as a refugee and remain dedicated to social justice, inclusion, and diversity.

When it comes to starting or running a business, legal stuff (and the associated price tag) can be scary. Often, this functions as a gatekeeping mechanism, making it that much harder for people who don't already have a lawyer or entrepreneur in their immediate social circles to succeed. Making matters worse is the fact that most of a lawyer's job is talking to other lawyers, which means that many of us are just not very good at communicating with non-lawyers in ways that make sense.

It doesn't have to be this way. You shouldn't have to have a JD or an MBA to start your business.

I've dedicated my career to removing those barriers as much as I'm able. Here's part of what that looks like:

• Meeting my clients at their level of sophistication, expertise, and interest

• Plain-English communication, advice, and even drafting where appropriate

• Transparent pricing and flat-fee structures where possible, so you can know in advance how much you'll pay

• Flexible payment options

My expertise is primarily related to commercial contracts and (non-patent) intellectual property. This means that I'm well equipped to help you with most of the day-to-day legal stuff involved in running your business: signing contracts with your vendors and clients, engaging independent contractors, making sure your trademarks are registered and protected, and so on. I also have a vast network of trusted colleagues that I can refer you to when you have needs I'm not the right person to handle. To learn more, browse the Traditional Services.

In addition to the traditional services you'd find at any law firm, I also offer a variety of nontraditional services and/or pricing models designed primarily to make it easier for early-stage entrepreneurs and first-time or marginalized founders to access needed legal services on a budget. My whole shtick here is making the legal components of running your business less intimidating and more accessible, so my aim is to reduce the amount of both "it's complicated" and "it's expensive" that you'll have to deal with. Click here for more information about pricing, and to learn more, browse the Nontraditional Services.

Here’s a handful of things about me that you might find valuable that… don’t fit conveniently on a resume or LinkedIn profile:

• I have a circadian rhythm disorder, which basically means that I sleep at unusual times. While you might have a hard time getting a hold of me before noon without an appointment, I’ll be regularly available during afternoons and evenings. You’ll also often have the previous day’s action items already in your inbox when you get back into the office

• I’m very comfortable with communicating entirely via text/email, if that’s your preference. I’ve had very productive relationships with clients whose voices I’ve never heard!

• I have a lot of personal and professional experience engaging with people who are neurodivergent, disabled, queer, and/or otherwise marginalized. I work hard to be a safe and welcoming space for people who may need or want that

• I am, first and foremost, a human being. I know that capital-L Lawyers can be intimidating or anxiety-inducing in terms of both our posture in the world and our price tag, especially if you’re an early or first-time entrepreneur. I make every effort to be just another guy you know and who’s uniquely well equipped to be in your corner — without all the high-falutin baggage and posturing — and I’m almost always down to shoot the breeze, recommend a book or TV show, or hear about your weekend plans (all off the clock, of course)

AI tools (like Claude, Gemini, ChatGPT, and others) are being rapidly integrated into all sorts of other tools, systems, and workflows.

As an individual human being, I have real ethical concerns about their creation, development, use, and environmental impacts. But as an attorney, I have an ethical obligation to do my work for you in the fastest and most efficient way that I can without compromising quality.

I use these tools sparingly, but I do use them. That being said, my commitment to you as an actual or potential client is that, to the extent that I do use them:

• I’ll use them primarily for general research and/or soundboarding, not for ghostwriting drafts, documents, or legal advice

• I won’t rely on any factual claim an AI model makes without confirming it independently

• I won’t put anything in a prompt that includes identifiable client information

• You will never receive any AI-generated text from me unless it’s been rigorously reviewed and verified

If you’d like me to adjust my usage of these tools in my work with you (in either direction), I’m open to having that conversation.

Setting aside my use for a moment, please remember that as of March 2026, your chat logs with your own AI tools are likely not private or privileged. While I don’t mind helping you finalize document drafts you had an AI model create for you once those documents exist, I very much cannot advise you to create documents that way in the first place.