Dr. Sara Terheggen

Terheggen launched her own practice last year, called The NBD Group Inc. It begs the question, what does the titular acronym stand for?

“It’s funny, I think all my clients have guessed different things,” Teheggen said. “Obviously being a sort of corporate, boutique transactional-focused law firm, particularly founded by a woman – that’s Never Been Done!”

While the true signification of NBD remains private, what the practice stands for is clear: a commitment to equity, diversity and nimble execution of corporate transactions at the highest level.

Fortunately, Terheggen was able to bring her clients with her to the new venture, and enjoyed some pretty remarkable successes during the firm’s first year.

“Literally two weeks after I started the firm, I got a call from B. Riley FBR to represent them in a secondary equity offering for Gaia, which is a tech company,” Terheggen remembered. “To be part of that transaction on my own was really exciting. That really kicked everything off.”

Other deals soon followed, involving everything from securities, funds and venture capital to private equity and public companies.

“I’m a securities attorney but I do some formation as well so it’s nice because I have the benefit of both those practices,” Terheggen said. “I didn’t know, starting out, how much both of them would continue to be a part of my practice and what I do. Thankfully both have continued to thrive.”

Atwater Capital, a media and entertainment equity fund, sought her counsel when it was launching a content investment project in partnership with Creative Artists Agency LLC or CAA.

“[Atwater Capital’s is] a really exciting fund focused on development and financing of intellectual property,” Terheggen said. “I also have a Ph.D. in intellectual property and so it was exciting to work on a project that really brought together both of my grad degrees.”

Along with NBD Group’s success, however, Terheggen keeps the commitment she initially made in her cross-hairs.

“Part of the reason I wanted to do this was, I feel like in a lot of ways [the larger] law firms—they’re a bit broken when it comes to the culture for women and minorities,” Terheggen observed. “For me, I really wanted to start something and build a culture that I really could believe in, where women and minorities could rise up, as opposed to cycle out.”

— Dan Heching