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Closely-Held & Family Business

Legal Solutions for Closely-Held and Family Business Owners

Whether you have just started your business or have been around for years, good companies are founded upon a great product or service. And while you would probably like to focus solely on selling that product or service, chances are you may be preoccupied with a number of ancillary but important matters, such as shareholder disputes, financing, and of course, taxes, to name a few. The Rothman Gordon Closely-Held and Family Business Practice Group can help business owners, regardless of their company’s size, navigate these tasks, preferably before they become major headaches. Whether it’s creating a succession plan, developing an employee handbook, structuring a deal to finance your growth, or buying, selling, or leasing property, we welcome the opportunity to help you strategize and position your business to maximize its success.

Succession Planning

Our business lawyers work closely with our clients on  succession planning through the use of shareholder agreements and buy-sell arrangements. By working closely with our estate planning lawyers, we can also help to assure that these business arrangements are optimal from an estate planning perspective. We have counseled companies throughout Western Pennsylvania.

Partnerships that help your closely-held or family business

We are proud to be a member of the International Society of Primerus Law Firms. Our membership means we can tap legal counsel across the U.S. and around the world. Whether you are looking to acquire a company in another location, concerned about international trade issues, or facing litigation in another jurisdiction, we can bring skilled lawyers to the table to assist.

We are also pleased to sponsor the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Center for Family Business. We partner on informational panels and seminars and celebrate the family-owned businesses that are the back-bone of Western Pennsylvania.

Our experience includes:

  • Transferring ownership through multiple generations
  • Settling disputes regarding employment termination, avoiding publicity and expensive litigation
  • Counseling on acquisitions of smaller concerns and the sale of your business interest
  • Negotiation of financing
  • Assisting corporations in restructuring their operations, admitting new shareholders, and restructuring their debt for future growth
  • Performing due diligence and negotiating terms of sale
  • Advising on the purchase of or lease of property and structuring the acquisition of the businesses
  • Encouraging mediation over expensive litigation
  • Forming Delaware limited liability companies and negotiating complex operating agreements
  • Negotiating and drafting intellectual property agreements, copyrights and trademarks
  • Forming bankruptcy remote limited liability companies for use in real estate transactions
  • Merging affiliated companies as part of corporate restructuring efforts
  • Litigating claims for breach of representation
  • Counseling management groups in the acquisition of controlling interests of stock
  • Acquiring the assets of competitors and advising on the integration of the acquired company on behalf of various types of businesses
  • Advising minority shareholders of their rights and devising strategies to help maximize their value
  • Preparing non-competition and confidentiality agreements to protect our clients’ businesses and intellectual property
  • Negotiating the sale and/or merger of privately-owned companies to/with publicly-traded companies