Business

Our skills, wealth of experience, and dedication to client service have made us the choice as general counsel to a wide spectrum of businesses, ranging from start-up entrepreneurs to public companies and several of Oregon’s largest privately-held companies with multi-state operations and hundreds of employees. We have represented these clients as sole or lead counsel in all manner of transactions, from simple contracts to complex and sophisticated mergers, financings, and acquisitions involving hundreds of millions of dollars. Our relationship with many of these clients spans decades. We believe that we can best represent clients by getting to know them and their businesses well, so we can provide timely, practical advice that is consistent with their business philosophy, practices, and long-term goals. We value and enjoy our role as key advisers and counselors to our clients.

We work with clients from most segments of Oregon’s economy, including banking and finance, leasing, forest products, manufacturing, real estate development, construction, agriculture and wineries, retail, telecommunications, heavy equipment and automobile distribution, insurance, and health care.

When clients have new business ventures, whether a start-up or acquisition, we begin by helping them analyze, select, and form the business entity best suited to their business and tax objectives. We guide our clients through the process of creating the entity and its legal relationships and then through the required legal maintenance and compliance.

We work closely with clients on all legal aspects of the conduct of their businesses, including, by way of example:

• The negotiation and documentation of all types of contractual relationships
• Employment and personnel
• The negotiation and documentation of credit facilities, including lines of credit, commercial and real estate term loans, construction financing, and permanent and “all-in-one” financing
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Tax-free organizations involving mergers, split-offs, spin-offs, and other business combinations and separations
• The representation of management in leveraged buyouts
• The representation of shareholders during hostile takeovers
• Tax and business planning
• Risk management
• Management incentives and deferred compensation

This practice group also maintains a special focus on closely-held family businesses and succession planning, assisting these clients in planning and implementing changes in ownership and management from one generation to the next. Our work includes the development and preparation of buy-sell agreements, tax and liquidity plans, employment agreements, and alternative plans for family members who are not involved directly in the management of the business.