The SVAGC is a successor to the Peninsula Association of General Counsel (PAGC), formed in the early 1980s. In 2003, the SVAGC was formally organized as a California mutual benefit nonprofit corporation with the assistance of Ivy Associates, a consultancy to the Silicon Valley legal community that provides organizational support for the SVAGC and produces the All Hands Meeting. Only SVAGC members, speakers and invited guests may attend monthly luncheons, which are funded by modest membership dues. Individuals may join the SVAGC when they are the chief legal officer of a company with operations in Northern California that is publicly traded or which meets alternative criteria for private companies. Some SVAGC members serve as general counsel for companies headquartered outside Northern California, and attend meetings when business travel brings them into the SF Bay Area.