At Burrill Watkins, our business and corporate experience help business owners and management find creative answers quickly. Our clients rely upon us as legal advisors who help them manage their businesses and professional assets, and a resource for facilitating transactions. In our Corporate Transactions & Finance practice we represent businesses from sole operators to Fortune 100 corporations.

Services

The services our business and corporate attorneys offer are customized to the needs of the individual business, and range from transactional work to complex litigation matters. Our lawyers take a pragmatic approach to solving problems and helping our clients plan ahead. They are able to provide practical advice because they have experience forged insight that goes beyond their traditional legal training.

In meeting our clients’ needs in operating their business, we provide a full range of legal services from entity formation, organization and structure, preparing operating or shareholder agreements, succession planning, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and partnership transactions. We also provide services related to employment issues such as preparation of employment agreements, confidentiality agreements, restrictive covenants, preparation of employment and policy manuals.

General Business Counsel

Burrill Watkins provides businesses with the ability to have top-notch legal counsel at their disposal. Our clients contact us to help them to structure and operate their ventures, and to help them to address any legal concerns along the way. We act proactively, to ensure that our clients are protected from unnecessary risks. We manage our clients’ legal problems so that they can focus on building their businesses.

Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)

Our Corporate Transactions & Finance practice assists clients in accomplishing a wide range of business transactions, including:

Licensing & Contracts

Our Corporate Transactions & Finance Group provides our clients with assistance in negotiating, drafting and reviewing business contracts and licenses, including:

Franchising

Our Corporate Transactions & Finance practice has experience representing franchisors, and providing valuable assistance that includes:

• The formation, expansion through acquisitions and joint ventures, and divestiture of franchise systems;
• Guidance on marketing and distribution agreements;
• Franchise sales law compliance and monitoring of legislative and judicial developments;
• Dispute resolution (including mediation, arbitration, litigation and bankruptcy);
• Representation in regulatory actions;
• Enforcement of franchisee contract requirements, including maintenance of quality standards, reporting duties, and restrictive covenants;
• Protection and licensing of trademarks, service marks, and trade secrets.

We also help franchisees to achieve workable approaches in their relationships with franchisors.

We help clients who are established business owners to develop a marketable concept to make the leap from local owners to nation-wide franchisors. This may involve an “A to Z” review of their business and legal status in order to structure the most beneficial transition for their future.

Company Formation, Startup and Growth

Our Corporate Transactions & Finance practice has formed and helped plan hundreds of companies for our clients. We consult with our clients and their accountants regarding entity alternatives and coordinate all of the necessary filings. We have expertise in Intellectual Property to work with our clients to address trademark issues in connection with company formation. We advise our clients as to the proper corporate maintenance and structure of companies to minimize individual and parent company liability exposure.

When requested, we will engage specific project based startup consulting and advisory services, including:

• Business model design and development
• Financial forecasting and startup COO/CFO engagements
• Go-to-market strategy and marketing plan development
• Advisory board recruiting and / or participation
• Operations Management

Client Types Served

Clients who receive our business and corporate services represent almost all industries and range in size from closely-held businesses to Fortune 100 companies: