Make sure you're already familiar with early lapel guard defenses. Even then, sometimes you need a little more advanced tricks to deal with certain situations in lapel guard. Here are three of those tricks.
Defending against the matrix entry from K-guard means you have to pull up on their K-guard leg while pinning their "matrix" leg, so you can step free by unwinding the position, being patient and cautious while stepping out:
When your partner transitions to ringworm guard, start by blocking their free hand so they can't reach across to enter into worm guard. Now you're free to execute a backstep guard pass, being mindful that the moment they let go of your lapel, you need to change your position, like so:
We mentioned not letting them get all the way to worm guard, but if they get there and enter into a wormimbolo, this is a really nice way to counter it. Note that the key on the entry is where your knee line is, and gripping their hip and knee means you can turn the tables on them, taking their back instead:
If you can't finish the back take, you can still come up on top.