Private Equity & C-Suite · National Practice

Chicago Private Equity Attorney
The fund's firm represents the fund.

Q: What is a PPM review and why does it matter?

A Private Placement Memorandum review examines what the fund is promising, what it is disclaiming, where the GP has undisclosed discretion, and where LP rights are weaker than they appear. For LPs evaluating an investment, this is legal due diligence before the economic analysis. For GPs preparing a PPM, Adam reviews for completeness, accuracy, and regulatory compliance.

Q: What is a litigation audit for a PE portfolio company?

A litigation audit maps every pending, threatened, and potential legal dispute across the portfolio company — its contracts, employment relationships, IP, regulatory obligations, and business practices. The output is a risk map and remediation plan. Adam has conducted litigation audits across healthcare, technology, manufacturing, and financial services portfolio companies.

Q: How are PE matters billed?

PE matters are billed on a monthly flat-fee retainer for ongoing principal counsel or hourly for defined transaction work. For fixed-scope engagements — PPM review, litigation audit, specific due diligence — a fixed fee is quoted at intake. The scope and price are agreed before Adam opens the file. No billable hour surprises.

By Adam Lysinski, Attorney · Updated May 16, 2026

The most common mistake PE principals make is assuming the fund’s counsel represents them. It does not. Adam Lysinski served as CLO or outside counsel at PE-backed companies, real estate, technology (SaaS), healthcare, manufacturing, retail, food, and financial services portfolio companies and professional services companies. He has sat in the management meetings where the GP’s interest and the management team’s interest were not the same. He is the attorney whose client is the person writing the check — not the entity the check created.

Personal principal counsel, PPM review, portfolio litigation audits, fractional GC. Monthly retainer or fixed-fee transaction scopes.

Retainer + Hourly

Monthly flat-fee retainer for principal counsel

Defined transaction scopes: fixed fee quoted at intake. No billable hour surprises.

(773) 777-9888

The Practice

The fund’s law firm
represents the fund.

The most common mistake PE principals make in their legal relationships is assuming that the fund's counsel represents them personally. It does not. The fund's law firm represents the fund. The portfolio company's general counsel represents the company. When your interests diverge from the entities you control — and they will — you need your own attorney.

Adam served as CLO or outside counsel at PE-backed companies, real estate, technology (SaaS), healthcare, manufacturing, retail, food, and financial services portfolio companies and professional services companies. He has sat in the management meetings where the GP's interest and the management team's interest were not the same. He has negotiated the employment agreements, the equity arrangements, and the departure terms that those divergences produce. That experience is what PE principal counsel draws on.

The practice covers PPM review for LPs and GPs, litigation audits across portfolio companies, fractional GC services for PE-backed businesses, cross-border coordination, and personal legal infrastructure for principals — estate planning, asset protection, and the intersection of personal and business wealth.

Scope of work

→Personal counsel to PE principals
→PPM review (LP and GP perspectives)
→Portfolio company litigation audits
→Fractional GC for portfolio companies
→Cross-border legal coordination
→FBAR, FATCA, foreign entity compliance
→Principal estate and asset protection

Cross-practice

PE principals with significant personal wealth require estate planning that addresses business interest ownership, succession, and asset protection in conjunction with their personal estate — not separately from it.

Why Adam represents PE principals personally

Former Chief Legal Officer at multiple PE-backed companies means Adam knows from the operating side how PE principals' personal interests diverge from fund interests — exactly where personal counsel separate from the fund's law firm becomes essential.

AIGP credential matters for PE principals whose portfolio companies use AI tools — the GP's personal exposure (board liability, breach-of-fiduciary-duty claims, AI-related litigation) is increasingly distinct from the fund's exposure.

Adam has obtained licenses in Illinois, Wisconsin, New York, Texas, Minnesota, D.C., and 7 federal courts* — covering the principal who operates in IL plus has property, family-office structures, or co-investment vehicles in other listed jurisdictions.

Former service on the Illinois ARDC Hearing Board supports the independence and judgment required for personal counsel work — separate ethics, separate file, separate engagement letter from anything the fund's primary counsel touches.

Why this practice is different at Lysinski & Associates P.C.

Adam represents PE principals as individuals — not the funds, not the portfolio companies. Personal counsel for the human person whose name goes into the PPM, whose carry goes into the divorce calculation, whose personal litigation exposure starts where the fund's law firm's representation ends. He holds the AIGP credential, which matters for principals whose portfolio companies are AI-intensive and whose personal exposure increasingly tracks the AI-governance posture of those companies.

As a former Illinois ARDC Hearing Board Judge, a former Illinois Licensed Managing Real Estate Broker, and a Certified Mediator with multi-state license (IL, WI, NY, TX, MN, D.C.*) and former in-house counsel at PE-backed companies across eight industries, Adam brings the judgment of an attorney who has been on the operating side, not just the deal side — which is what personal counsel to a principal needs.

Adam holds the IAPP AIGP credential.

Frequently Asked

Questions.

What does PE counsel at Lysinski & Associates P.C. look like?

For PE principals and majority owners, Adam serves as personal legal advisor — not the fund's law firm, not the portfolio company's general counsel, but the attorney whose client is the person writing the check. The fund's counsel represents the fund. The portfolio company's GC represents the company. Adam represents you. His experience as a former CLO or outside counsel at PE-backed companies positions him to identify where your interests diverge from the entities you control.

What is a PPM review and why does it matter?

What is a litigation audit for a PE portfolio company?

How does fractional GC work for a PE-backed company?

Adam serves as fractional GC on a monthly retainer — attending board calls, reviewing material contracts, managing outside counsel relationships, building legal infrastructure, and serving as the company's legal voice in management discussions. He has served as CLO or outside counsel at PE-backed companies and understands how the board, the GP, and the management team interact. Retainer pricing is engagement-dependent.

Does Adam handle cross-border PE transactions?

Adam coordinates global legal matters for PE principals with cross-border portfolio companies and personal asset structures. This includes managing outside counsel in relevant jurisdictions, reviewing cross-border documentation, coordinating international compliance obligations (FBAR, FATCA, foreign entity reporting), and synthesizing legal advice across multiple jurisdictions into a coherent strategy for the principal.

How are PE matters billed?

Ready to talk?

All calls returned
within 1 business day.

(773) 777-9888

4418 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL 60630

Start here

Where can Adam help today?

I’m selling a home → I’m buying a home → I need a will or trust → I’m a real estate broker →

Chicago Private Equity AttorneyThe fund's firm represents the fund.

The fund’s law firmrepresents the fund.