Our Practice

Corporate, Commercial and General Business

Our experience spans a broad range of corporate, commercial and general business matters. We have organized corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, professional service corporations and limited liability partnerships, and have negotiated and prepared shareholder, operating, partnership and buy-sell agreements for the owners of these entities. We have been involved in numerous transactions, including general contract, sales and commercial matters, purchases and sales of businesses, and formation of joint ventures. A unique aspect of our practice – and one which makes us both humbled and proud for the trust which clients have shown – is that we frequently serve as a counselor or out-sourced in-house general counsel for clients.

We have represented manufacturers, distributors, retailers, service providers, licensed professional service firms (and even other law firms) across a broad range of industries and fields. Many of our clients tell us that they find that breadth of experience to be very helpful to them. We do a considerable amount of our work with business owners, including women and minority business owners.
 

We offer sophisticated estate planning with the personal touch and affordability of a small firm. We work with our clients and their financial advisors, accountants and other professionals to identify their lifetime and post-mortem goals. Once the goals are identified, we seek a tax-advantageous structure by selecting from a wide variety of estate planning vehicles. Depending on our client’s needs, the options may include documents such as basic Wills, Wills that maximize the use of the unified credit equivalent for married clients, Wills containing provisions specific to non-U.S. citizens, lifetime and testamentary charitable trusts, special needs trusts, personal residence trusts, life insurance trusts, durable powers of attorney and health care proxies. We assist in the probate and administration of estates.

Special Needs Planning

We also concentrate in planning for families that have members with special needs and persons with disabilities, with their unique set of circumstances and concerns. Such advice may include planning for eligibility for needs-based programs, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicaid, Medicare and Section 8 housing. In addition, we assist families in estate planning for transfer of wealth to a child or other family member with special needs so as to avoid jeopardizing the financial eligibility of the person with special needs for such need-based benefits. We prepare appropriate special needs trusts, wills, powers of attorney, letters of intent and other relevant documents. We also assist in obtaining legal guardianship of a person with special needs when necessary. Whenever possible, we strive to serve as a resource to our clients with special needs and their families in terms of identifying other entities, both governmental and non-governmental, that provide services to persons with special needs.

Special Needs Settlement Planning

We assist plaintiff personal injury attorneys, their clients and structured settlement advisors in utilizing self-settled ((d)(4)(A)) special needs trust to hold settlement proceeds in order to avoid loss of needs-based government benefits (such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI)) by the permanently-disabled injured client. Assistance includes: preparation of an appropriate Special Needs Trust; preparation of necessary court pleadings, such as motion papers, affidavits and briefs, seeking court approval of the Special Needs Trust as a repository for settlement or award proceeds; appearance in court in support of request for use of Special Needs Trust, where requested by counsel or required by the court; and general guidance respecting compliance with Medicaid liens, Medicare liens, Medicare Set-Aside accounts, Qualified Settlement Accounts and other factors that must be considered prior to completing the funding of Special Needs Trusts and payment of attorneys fees.