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Corporate & Commercial Law
If capitalism is inevitable, so is corporate legal work to create, transfer, split, and reorganize business entities. Business purchase or sale strategy
is also guided by tax considerations. Corporate business
is also generated by clients who are borrowing money or
leasing equipment. Contracts are still another area, including
their negotiation and drafting, including shareholder agreements
and employment contracts. Partnership issues, franchising,
commercial questions, and Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)
issues are also within the scope of our commercial work.
Many of our clients are businesses with one or two owners,
some of them franchises. Other clients include investment
partnerships. Many corporate deals include other areas
of law. For example, the sale of a family-owned business
often involves corporate, real estate, and estate planning,
and may also require
familiarity with environmental law. Business expansion
can invoke real estate and labor law.
How
much legal work does a business need? It all depends.
One study of small business conducted by the University
of Michigan found an inverse correlation between early
attention to legal formalities and financial success.
The lesson? Business is still the province of "animal
spirits" described by statist economist John Maynard Keynes
in his General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
(1936). A unique challenge of corporate work is to apply
seemingly unlimited legal information and procedures in
the correct amount for a given situation.
James
Freund, in his book Anatomy of a Merger, makes a related
point, when he attacks what he calls "laziness of mind"
which can creep up on the parties to a deal. They think
they have arrived at true terms, when they have only assembled
fragments. "Can't businessmen negotiate these matters
on their own? The answer, in most cases, is no." (p. 50).
Basic
Tools For Client Download
These
downloads are for authorized client use only, and do not
constitute legal advice apart from an attorney client
relationship with our firm.
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