Business Practice Group Success Story

“Many of the cases that we handle in the Business Practice Group are business 'divorces.' And I use the term divorce very specifically. When you're dealing with people who have been business partners, who have worked so closely together for a common purpose, and they no longer wish to work together, it can be as painful as a marital divorce. And if you’re dealing with the divorce of a family business, sometimes it can get downright ugly.

For example, we had a situation where we were representing a son who had purchased the family business from his parents. Five years after the purchase, despite having been paid about $900,000, the parents decided they didn't like the way the company was being run. Since their long-standing family and company lawyer had drafted the acquisition documents (the son was not represented at that time), the parents had tremendous power to take over the business and remove the son, if they chose to do so. In reviewing the documents, we concluded that not only were the business terms extraordinarily one-sided, evident by the ease with which the parents' could take control back from their son, but the purchase price was considerably higher than it appeared due to the tax structure. We fought the parents' effort to take back the company and negotiated an interim standstill agreement without litigation. Ultimately, our client prevailed. He stayed in control of the company, completely bought out his parents and paid considerably less than he would have under the original acquisition agreement.

Some attorneys would have fought this case using legal tactics alone. Our team approached the fight using a combination of legal knowledge and negotiation ability. Before my practice became largely transactional, I had a 16-year career as a commercial litigator. Many of the lawyers at Cohen Seglias have similar backgrounds -- they know business and the law. Because of this experience, the people on my team know when to be aggressive on behalf of our clients and when to step back. Regarding transactional matters, this experience allows us to effectively fight with our adversaries, while at the same time better explain to our clients the strengths and weaknesses of their respective positions. When these skills are finely developed, it's easier to come up with a win-win situation for everyone involved.”