Deborah Carrillo made a classic lawyer pivot. After a decade at a white-shoe firm, she left to join one of her clients, the venture capital firm Menlo Ventures.
What came next is far less common. Menlo has elevated Carrillo, its general counsel and only in-house lawyer, to partner after nearly six years with the firm — a rare distinction inside a venture fund.
Carrillo’s promotion suggests the role of the legal department is shifting in the venture industry. Carrillo said she’s at the table for weekly partner meetings where they pitch deals and bat around ideas.
“My voice is valued,” she said.
Lawyers who go in-house often swap the prestige of firm life for steadier hours and a different kind of influence. At venture firms, general counsels typically haven’t been on a path to ownership. Carrillo’s new title puts her closer to the upside, giving her a larger claim on future profits.
Menlo Ventures is one of the oldest investment shops in Silicon Valley, with $6.8 billion in assets under management. It backed Anthropic early on and counts Lovable, Chime, and Carta among its breakout investments.
Other firms that have granted the partner title to general counsels over the years include Lightspeed and Bessemer Venture Partners.
Before joining Menlo, Carrillo was a partner at the New York law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, where she advised startups and venture firms. She previously taught math in public schools.
As the firm’s one-person legal shop, Carrillo helps structure investments and funds and keeps the machinery of compliance running smoothly.
Increasingly, that means translating geopolitics into go or no-go calls: flagging risks that could trigger blowback from the government, and, amid new federal restrictions on foreign investments, digging into whether a portfolio company’s ownership traces back to Chinese nationals.
“I help people make the best decision and execute on those decisions,” Carrillo said.
Carrillo’s advice for young lawyers looking to make a move in-house: “Follow people and follow joy.”
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