Find Lawyers in Grand Rapids, Michigan for Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships)
Practice Area Overview
Business Organizations is a broad field of law concerning companies and other forms of business enterprises of all types and sizes and those who create them. This includes corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and other associations that carry on economic or charitable activities. Legal advice in this field of law covers a wide variety of topics, including the choice of type of business entity, choice of jurisdiction, process of formation, corporate governance, nature of ownership, operational matters, asset protection, combinations, acquisitions, dispositions, and dissolutions. Therefore, lawyers practicing in this area of law need to be well-versed in many different but related legal disciplines, including corporate, partnership, securities, tax, real estate, nonprofit, intellectual property, insolvency, fiduciary duty, and mergers and acquisitions law. Furthermore, because many business organizations have operations or are involved in transactions abroad, advising such entities can implicate not only federal and state laws within the United States, but also those of various foreign jurisdictions.
While some business organizations are relatively small, including traditional family-owned companies and entrepreneurial start-up ventures, many are large and complex enterprises with highly sophisticated governance structures. Accordingly, the legal work involved can range from representation of an entire organization, including its owner(s), in all aspects of the organization’s legal activities to engagement as a specialist in one or more discreet areas.
The legal skills required of a Business Organizations lawyer also include the ability to advise clients with respect to divisions of ownership and passing of ownership to acquirers and/or future generations, in addition to more immediate concerns regarding initial entity formation and operation. Properly advising clients with respect to structuring business enterprises, therefore, often requires an in-depth understanding of not only clients' strategic business objectives but also their succession and estate planning concerns.
In addition to the myriad issues that arise within a business enterprise, practice in the Business Organizations area also involves relationships between businesses and the interactions and transactions among them, including contracts, joint ventures, licenses, settlements, and mergers and acquisitions. Business Organizations is wide-ranging area of law that often serves as an entry point or primary point of contact for businesses to a law firm and the various types of legal services it provides.
Linda Klein, Shareholder
David Rieveschl, Shareholder
Kaplin concentrates his corporate practice on advising clients regarding choice of entity and transactional tax planning; structuring tax-free reorganizations and like-kind property exchanges; setting up and advising tax-exempt and nonprofit corporations; handling IRS audits and appeals hearings; commencing and settling tax litigation; formulating and drafting tax opinions; and preparing IRS ruling requests. Kaplin negotiates and structures the following types of transactions: asset and prope...
Neil specializes in business, estate and gift tax planning, estate planning, probate, business succession planning, and real estate law, representing numerous individuals and businesses with their planning and business issues since 1984. Neil is a member of the estate planning, probate, real property, and business and taxation sections of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan, and the Grand Rapids Bar Association. Neil is a member of the Western Michigan Estate Planning Coun...
Daniel J. Parmeter, Jr. specializes in general business law, including entity formations, mergers and acquisitions, sales, finance, commercial transactions, and joint venture agreements; and in general real estate law, including acquisitions, sales, construction, leasing, condominiums, development and finance. Dan received his bachelor's degree from Hope College and his law degree from Case Western Reserve University where he graduated cum laude. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan.
Bob is committed to making a difference for those he serves. Applying his deep tax background and education, Bob represents buyers and sellers in merger, acquisition and disposition transactions, and provides comprehensive counsel pertaining to business and partnership tax matters. He also advises start-up companies and established businesses alike interested in pursuing capital sources from the private equity market to raise capital for a number of diverse enterprises. Bob’s industry e...
Robert D. Wolford is a member of the Firm’s Management Committee and has been practicing law since 2001. He is a corporate lawyer who represents automotive suppliers and other manufacturers ranging from publicly traded to closely held as well as nonprofit. He has significant experience in mergers and acquisitions as well as workouts and bankruptcy. Mr. Wolford serves as the Legal Counsel to several groups including the Economic Club of Grand Rapids. He is one of the founders of the West...
Benjamin A. Zainea, a native of Grand Rapids, graduated from Northview High School in 1992. He attended the University of Michigan School of Business Administration, where he served as president of the professional/service fraternity of Delta Sigma Pi and graduated with high distinction in 1996. He earned his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1999. Ben specializes in business transactions, mergers and acquisitions, business formation, general business and real estate la...
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