Press Release: New Legal Advisors in Residence: Stephens Scown Join Canopy Community

Building a startup is exciting, creative, and often unpredictable. Founders move quickly from idea to MVP, from validation to investment conversations, and from early customers to scaling teams. Along the way, one thing becomes clear: good legal advice early on can save enormous time, money, and stress later.

That is why we are delighted to welcome Tom Chartres-Moore and Amy Ralston, with additional support on hand from the talented Corporate and Commercial Services team at Stephens Scown LLP, as the new UK Legal Advisors in Residence for Canopy Community.

This partnership brings experienced, founder-friendly legal support directly into our startup founder community. It gives Canopy members a trusted place to ask questions, learn what they don’t yet know, and access practical legal guidance as they build their companies.

Legal Support Designed for Startup Founders

For many early-stage founders, legal questions appear long before they are ready to engage a law firm formally. Questions about intellectual property, founder agreements, shareholder structures, terms and conditions, or investment documentation can appear at the earliest stages of building an MVP.  The challenge is that founders often don’t know what they don’t know.

Through this partnership, Tom, Amy and the Stephens Scown team will help bridge that gap. They will provide startup-focused guidance to founders across the Canopy Membership ecosystem. This includes entrepreneurs working through our incubation programs, investment readiness workshops, and demo night events.

Their goal is simple: make high-quality legal knowledge accessible to founders earlier in their journey.  This aligns strongly with the Canopy mission of creating a supportive environment where founders can learn from experts, peers, and mentors as they build their ventures.

Office Hours and Micro Consultations

One of the most valuable elements of this partnership is the introduction of regular office hours for Canopy founders. These sessions will be short, practical “micro consults” where founders can ask focused questions and get quick direction from experienced startup lawyers. This might include topics such as:

• How to structure a founding team agreement
• Protecting intellectual property around a product or idea
• Preparing for SEIS or angel investment
• Understanding term sheets and investor expectations
• Setting up employment or contractor agreements
• Structuring shareholder agreements early.

The purpose of these sessions is not to replace full legal engagement, but to help founders understand the landscape. Very often a short conversation can help a founder identify the next step, avoid a common mistake, or understand which legal areas need attention before approaching investors or customers.

Founder-Friendly Advice and Rates

Another important aspect of this partnership is accessibility.
Stephens Scown is well known for working closely with innovative businesses and entrepreneurial founders across the UK. Through Canopy, founders will be able to access startup-friendly advice and pricing when they need deeper engagement. This means founders can move from early guidance to structured legal support in a way that feels transparent and manageable.

The relationship sits within the trusted umbrella of the Canopy Community, which many founders value as a place where introductions are curated and trusted. When a founder meets a partner through Canopy, they know that person understands the startup journey and the pressures of building a new venture.

Meeting the Team at Canopy Events

This partnership is also designed to be visible and human. Members of the Stephens Scown team, including Tom and Amy, will regularly attend Canopy events across the UK. Founders will meet them at demo nights, knowledge sessions, and online gatherings.  These informal environments are often where the best conversations happen. A founder presenting at demo night may suddenly realise they need to think about investor rights. A founder building an MVP may discover they should protect their intellectual property earlier than expected.

Having experienced lawyers present in the room creates opportunities for those questions to be asked naturally.  It also helps build trust between founders and advisors.

Building Stronger Startups Together

At Canopy we believe that great startups are rarely built alone.
They are built through communities of founders, mentors, investors, and advisors who support each other through the early stages of the journey. The addition of Stephens Scown as Legal Advisors in Residence strengthens that ecosystem.

Founders will gain access to legal expertise that supports validation, investment readiness, and company growth. They will also gain confidence that the structures they build early will support the long-term success of their venture.  In a world where startups move fast, having the right legal foundations can make all the difference.

We are excited to welcome Tom, Amy, and the Stephens Scown team into the Canopy Community and look  forward to seeing many founders connect with them at upcoming events, demo nights, and office hours.  If you are a founder building your idea, preparing for investment, or scaling your startup, this partnership ensures you have experienced legal guidance available inside the community that supports you.

Tom Chartres-Moore, Commercial Services Partner at Stephens Scown said,
“We’re excited to be joining Canopy Community as Legal Advisors in Residence.  Startups move quickly and founders often face legal questions at moments when speed really matters. Our goal is to make practical legal insight accessible early, so founders can build strong foundations and focus on growing their businesses with confidence.”

Stewart Noakes, Co-Founder of Canopy Community said,
“One of the most powerful aspects of Canopy is the trust that exists between founders and the advisors who support them. Having Tom and the Stephens Scown team as our UK Legal Advisors in Residence means founders can access experienced legal guidance in a friendly, founder-first environment. It helps our members move faster, avoid common mistakes, and build companies that are ready for investment and growth.”

Connect with Stewart https://www.linkedin.com/in/stewartnoakes/ 

Connect with Tom https://www.linkedin.com/in/tc-m/  Connect with Amy https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-ralstonip/ 

Read more about Stephens Scown https://www.stephens-scown.co.uk/