Business is not always “business as usual” when ownership is held across generations of a family.

Perkins Coie has a long-standing tradition of representing family-owned businesses. We represent local, regional and national family-owned businesses, from mom-and-pop organizations to those with international platforms and revenues surpassing one billion dollars. Our attorneys assist family-held businesses in developing governance structures that support growth, business stability and smooth successions. Our family business clients are active in a variety of industries, including consumer products, real estate, timber, and food and beverage.

We help business owners with succession planning by developing road maps for a sale of the company to a third-party buyer, an existing ownership or employee group; outside investment; or a continuation of the business with the next generation of family members. Our attorneys focus on the success of the business and the success of the family in our counsel, which is customized to each company’s specific structure and challenges. We provide comprehensive legal counsel across multiple disciplines, including:

• Operations: Advice on commercial contract drafting and negotiation, licensing requirements, employment agreements, compensation and equity incentives for shareholders and employees, and regulatory compliance
• Corporate Governance: Counsel to boards of directors, shareholders and senior management on a variety of critical governance issues, including ethics, fiduciary duties of directors and officers, proper board procedures and shareholder agreements
• Succession Planning: Advice on ownership succession, including tax efficient ways to transition ownership to future generations, while maintaining sound governance practices
• Mergers & Acquisitions: Comprehensive guidance on preparing a family business for a sale and leading a company though the sales process
• Tax: Representation on federal and state tax matters and on structuring activities to maximize tax savings
• Trust and Estate Planning: Advice on achieving wealth transfer in alignment with clients’ businesses and their lifestyles

Protections for Family Businesses

Typically, we work with mature enterprises operating in national and international markets and with businesses that range from founder-controlled to multigenerational family-owned enterprises. We provide our clients with precisely what they need to succeed: the sophisticated, multidisciplinary and collaborative counsel of a full-service firm attuned to the distinct needs of family-held companies.

Vital business protections, such as restricting the transfer of shares and injecting business perspectives into estate planning, are at the center of our counsel. Every family-owned business has its own dynamic, and all participants, including allied professional advisory teams, have specific personal and business objectives. Perkins Coie attorneys address these goals to help our clients realize their distinct definition of success.