Mattison (Mattie) Raiford graduated cum laude from Tulane Law School in New Orleans, Louisiana. While in law school, Mattie served as Treasurer of Women in Law, Managing Editor of the Tulane Maritime Law Journal and as a Dean Rufus Harris Peer Fellow for first year law students. She also volunteered at the New Orleans Entertainment Law Legal Association (ELLA Project) and was an extern at the Sun Belt Athletic Conference. Prior to law school, Mattie graduated from Baylor University in Waco, Texas with a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and a minor in Business Administration.

Prior to joining Vela Wood, Mattie was an associate at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP’s Dallas office in the corporate law section. During her time at Akin Gump, she assisted with public and private mergers & acquisitions, finance transactions, corporate governance and general corporate matters.

At Vela Wood, Mattie advises startups, investors, and established companies from the formation stage through funding. She also assists with merger and acquisition transactions and general corporate governance matters.

Mattie has been selected as a 2023 Dallas Association of Young Lawyers Foundation Fellow, a peer-nominated honor recognizing professional distinction and service to the community and to the Bar.

Mattie was born and raised in Austin, Texas, but now resides in Dallas, Texas, with her husband, Danny, and their sweet (but very sassy) pup, Avery. She enjoys reading, playing volleyball, traveling, and spending time with friends and family.

Select Representations

*Some transactions reflect Mattie’s work at prior firms.

  • Represented a Dallas-based venture capital firm in a number of equity and debt financing rounds, from pre-Seed convertible rounds through Series A financings
  • Represented numerous companies in convertible note, Safe, Series Seed, and NVCA financing rounds
  • Represented an Austin-based food wholesaler in its $22M acquisition by a foreign publicly-traded corporation
  • Assisted a large convenience retail chain in its $21B acquisition of gasoline and convenience store locations and advised on related divestiture transactions*
  • Advised a Dallas-based transportation company in the sale of its highway products division for $375M*

How beautiful a day can be when kindness touches it.

– George Elliston

Fun Facts:

  • During her time in college, Mattie studied abroad in Maastricht, the Netherlands.
  • Mattie was born and raised in Austin before it was a big-time city.
  • In her final year of law school, her Tulane Law School intramural volleyball team finally beat the medical school team to take home the championship.

Education:

  • Tulane Law School, J.D., Cum Laude
  • Baylor University, B.A. in International Studies, Minor in Business Administration