Focused counsel for the legal issues that matter most to privately owned businesses and families.
Our business counseling practice encompasses a number of disciplines with a common theme: providing creative and cost-effective advice to our privately owned business clients as their outside counsel. Our services include:
We advise our clients on the proper choice of entity among the array of available structures, including corporations, partnerships, joint ventures and limited liability entities. We are very familiar with the myriad of different state laws as well as the federal and state tax issues involved in selecting the proper choice of entity for organizations ranging from start-ups to established companies expanding into new ventures.
We review a variety of contracts on a daily basis involving manufacturing, distribution and various service contracts. In keeping with our role as counselors to our business clients, we pride ourselves on counseling our clients about not only the legal implications but also the business implications of these contracts.
We assist our clients in raising funds through the private placement of debt and equity securities by planning and preparing private placement memorandums. Our firm also maintains an extensive and active relationship with the commercial banks in the area and in downtown Chicago to assist our clients in finding the right banking relationship.
As our clients’ outside counsel, we actively manage relationships with attorneys handling other matters for our clients. This includes locating the appropriate counsel based upon the complexity and size of a particular matter and making certain that local counsel clearly understands our clients’ objectives and fully serves their interests.
We have substantial expertise in shareholder disputes and have participated in several shareholder disputes involving over $10,000,000. Our firm blends litigation expertise with business savvy to produce the best possible outcomes.
Proper succession planning is a vital and growing area of concern for owners of privately owned businesses. We have planned a substantial number of succession plans for our clients over the years that encompass management buyouts, leveraged employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), transfers to family members active in the business and sales to third parties (including publicly traded strategic investors).
We maintain the expertise for the complete handling, coordination and proper staffing of transactions to ensure that the objectives of the privately owned business owner are met, including the best treatment of the difficult income, estate and gift tax issues that may arise. Our business succession practice involves counseling family-owned and privately held businesses in a variety of industries on the best method for transitioning ownership.
We represent clients in a full range of commercial real estate matters, including acquisitions and dispositions, leasing, financing, development, and related transactional work for businesses active in regional, national, and international markets.
We routinely represent families, individuals, family partnerships, and privately owned businesses on estate and succession planning issues, and the appropriate use of strategies to reduce exposure to estate and gift tax liabilities. Our work includes will and trust preparation, probate administration, and trust administration with a focus on practical outcomes for our clients and their families.
Our attorneys assist clients in evaluating and pursuing insurance coverage claims and in managing relationships with carriers. We provide nationwide litigation management and supervision for specialty lines insurance carriers and counsel policyholders on coverage disputes.
We handle intellectual property matters including trademark, copyright, trade secrets, unfair competition, and related commercial disputes. Our litigation team has experience prosecuting and defending IP claims in state and federal courts.
We advise employers on workplace policies, employment contracts, non-compete and trade secret protection, privacy and e-mail policies, immigration issues, employee military service, and other contemporary employment matters. We also represent clients in employment litigation, including actions involving restrictive covenants and misappropriation of trade secrets, and have experience obtaining temporary restraining orders and injunctions.
Our litigation attorneys handle a variety of matters on behalf of individuals and business entities ranging from closely held businesses to Fortune 500 companies. We have successfully litigated cases involving contractual breaches, employment actions, landlord-tenant issues, partnership and shareholder disputes, intellectual property disputes, probate issues, trust and will contests, mechanics’ liens, construction disputes, enforcement of notes and other monetary obligations, mortgage foreclosures, environmental actions and various other commercial disputes.
We work closely with our clients to develop cost-effective, pragmatic litigation strategies with a constant focus on the most expedient method of resolving the issues in dispute. Representative results include multi-million dollar settlements and judgments on behalf of clients, as well as successful defenses of multi-million dollar claims.
In his practice, Mr. Morrisroe provides day-to-day counseling to owners and executives of privately owned companies on merger and acquisition activities. He works to minimize the tax liabilities associated with the sale of privately owned businesses and preserve the maximum flexibility in designing various entity structures. We assist from initial planning through closing and post-closing matters.
Our firm assists clients with family law matters with the same client-focused, practical approach that defines our business practice. Please contact us to discuss how we can help.