Corporate Law
Bierce & Kenerson, P.C. advises domestic and foreign businesses on building, growing and transferring stakeholder value. We assist in new ventures, governance, compliance, privacy, strategic alliances, joint ventures, operational excellence, supply chain management and outsourcing governance. For later-stage privately owned and family businesses, we help in succession planning, business transformations, restructuring, spin-offs, holding companies and M&A. We focus on finding creative and practical legal solutions.
We advise on deal structure, governance and tax planning and counsel clients on the types of legal framework most suitable for establishing new or joint ventures and strategic alliances. For start-ups, we offer a fixed fee for services to draft and file the documentation necessary to create a new business.
We have served clients in Europe, South America, India and China in establishing and operating U.S. subsidiaries by new entity formation, acquisition or merger. In particular, we have many clients in the United Kingdom and, as a French-speaking law firm, in France. We also advise foreign clients on U.S. laws as it relates to their disputes with American companies and counsel them on settlement strategies.
Governance rules are custom made and provide the “owner’s manual” for how a business is run, mandating compliance actions among the parties involved. We draft the agreements which define the relationships among shareholders, boards of directors, employees, lenders and others who have an interest in the business.
We draft and negotiate employment agreements, stock options, stock for services, deferred compensation, incentive compensation, phantom stock and stock appreciation rights, severance agreements and redemption agreements. We work with immigration counsel on business visas.
We advocate and assist clients in resolving conflicts and minimizing operational disruptions through alternative dispute resolution procedures to avoid litigation. We advise clients on settlement strategies and negotiate and draft settlement agreements. When litigation becomes unavoidable, we collaborate with litigators and help guide the parties to a commercially reasonable resolution.
We advise entrepreneurs and companies on organizational strategies to restructure their companies or prepare for founders’ exit and succession, based on their business objectives. We provide counsel on corporate, financial, employment, U.S. tax and intellectual property issues.
For companies looking to expand their operations, we perform legal due diligence of potential acquisitions, strategic alliances and joint ventures. Such strategic alliances involve both high risk and high reward. We also structure, draft and negotiate the financing and acquisition agreements through the completion of these transactions. On the other end, we help companies sell assets and also sell the entire company.