Here is Number Two of the Six Major Points Series
I handle corporate workouts, reorganizations and dissolutions and other types of disputes among co-owners of privately owned companies, in other words I advise clients when they are experiencing adverse business situations.
But what does it really mean to be a business lawyer handling dissolution and other types of disputes among co-owners or adverse business situations? Does it require a special temperament and skill set? Here’s my take on the answers to these questions:
It Means understanding business and the relationships that make it work.
This is the Second of the SIX Six Major Points Series
Number TWO of the Six Major Points Series
It Means Knowing Your Client’s Business. Every closely held business is different. Some operate on a partnership model with diffuse authority and little or no formality in regard to decision making. Written agreement among the owners may be non-existent. Others may have detailed written agreement calling for hierarchical management, and still act like a cadre of co-equals, others may have a hierarchical management structure that is rigorously followed. The business lawyer also must discern who holds what leverage in the company’s business. For example, one owner may control relations with the company’s key customers, which may have significant implications in terms of who’s in a position to buy out whom. One owner may have personal financial resources the other lacks, or may personally own the real estate housing the company’s business. The point is, as a business lawyer you need to understand how the business at hand operates, not just on paper but in practice, and you need to understand how the business operation affects your client’s ability to prosecute or defend claims of shareholder oppression, deadlock or financial impropriety, and how it influences the range of possible outcomes.
If you missed any please check out my other blog postings
Sidney Turner
www.SidneyTurnerllc.com
