Antitrust and Trade Regulation
Bankruptcy and Reorganization
Business and Corporate Law
Construction
Early Stage and Emerging Growth Companies
Employment, Fringe Benefit and Personnel Services
Estate and Trust Planning and Administration
General Civil Litigation
Health Care Law
Insurance Law
Intellectual Property Law and Litigation
Real Estate
Securities Law
Taxation
Antitrust and Trade Regulation
With more than a half century of involvement in antitrust and trade regulation, Kerr, Russell and Weber offers considerable depth of expertise in this area.
Over the years, KRW has offered counsel, business planning and litigation services to a diverse array of clients facing private or governmental claims.
KRW's trial experience includes all aspects of civil and criminal antitrust litigation, Federal Trade Commission enforcement actions and criminal antitrust matters. We routinely represent clients in federal and state grand jury investigations and Federal Trade Commission investigations. We have counseled and advised many clients dealing with the myriad adversarial claims made possible by government regulation and private enforcement.
Hart-Scott-Rodino pre-merger notification requirements can often delay the merger and acquisition plans of corporate clients. KRW is well versed in pre-merger notification and is experienced in dealing with the mountain of paperwork involved in filing reports with the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission. We can help move the process along in line with the client's scheduled plans.
KRW can sort through trade regulations and help resolve dealer and distributor issues.
Our Clients Include:
- Merging entities
- Businesses operating in competitive markets
- Distributors and dealers
- Franchisors and franchisees
- Corporate and executive enforcement targets
Bankruptcy and Reorganization
Kerr, Russell and Weber has extensive experience in every aspect of the law
involving bankruptcy and reorganization. Our attorneys have represented
corporate debtors, creditors’ committees, secured lenders and unsecured
creditors in a variety of industries, including automotive, retail, real estate
and health care. We have a thorough understanding of the Bankruptcy Code as well
as the Uniform Commercial Code and the extensive recent amendments to both
statutes.
We emphasize a team approach and work closely and draw on the talents of
specialists in other practice areas including corporate, securities law,
employment, real estate, tax and litigation. We have expertise in representing
both public and private companies in insolvency matters. Our cost structure
enables us to handle complex insolvency matters for our clients in a
cost-effective manner.
Our capabilities in bankruptcy and reorganization include:
- Counseling financially troubled companies, both in and out of bankruptcy
- Representing secured and unsecured creditors’ interests both in and out of
bankruptcy
- Representing clients in all aspects of chapter 11 bankruptcy including
negotiating financing transactions and plans of reorganization
- Assisting clients with loan workouts and restructurings, including
negotiating and drafting forbearance agreements
- Representing Creditors’ Committees in chapter 11 bankruptcy
- Protecting rights of creditors by analyzing secured position and assisting
with asset recovery and foreclosure
- Representing purchasers and sellers of insolvent companies both in and out
of bankruptcy
- Advising clients in the automotive industry with troubled customers or
troubled suppliers to maximize the recovery of claims and ensure continued
production
- Representing clients in bankruptcy litigation, including preference
actions, fraudulent transfers and claims resolution
- Structuring out-of court work-outs and reorganizations
- Representing clients in liquidation proceedings including assignments for
the benefit of creditors, out-of-court creditor compositions, receiverships
and chapter 7 bankruptcies
- Advising Boards of Directors regarding their fiduciary obligations as a
result of pending insolvency
Our Clients Include:
- Private and Publicly held companies
- Secured Lenders
- Unsecured Creditors
- Creditors’ Committees
- Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive suppliers
- Purchasers of companies
- Equipment and real estate lessors
- Corporate boards and executives
Business and Corporate Law
Business law in America becomes increasingly more complex every day. Starting or maintaining a business requires expert legal counsel to assist in organizing, planning and executing a business plan. Our team approach permits us to bring various talents and specializations together for the benefit of our clients.
Our capabilities in business and corporate law include:
- Structuring corporations, partnerships and other business entities to maximize applicable legal and tax benefits
- Mergers, acquisitions and reorganizations
- Drafting and interpreting contracts and other business agreements
- Drafting and negotiating government contracts
- Advanced research contracts
- Business incentive programs such as tax abatement and bond financing
- Retirement planning to maximize tax benefits and meet financial goals
- Compliance, planning, and offerings under federal and state securities laws and regulations
- Negotiations with financial institutions and other creditors
- Creditors' rights
- Advising non-profit organizations
- Technology protection, licensing and litigation
- Copyright and Trademark registrations, licensing and litigation
- Intellectual property and Internet matters
- Software development and licensing
- Succession planning
- A wide variety of other business situations, including executive compensation and estate planning, corporate finance and bank negotiations
- Business Litigation and Dispute Resolution
With our experience in business law, we are able to evaluate our clients' legal rights and plot a course of action which is practical, effective and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Our goal is to resolve disputes pragmatically, working with the parties to reconcile problems cost-effectively. In the event of litigation, KRW's breadth of trial and appellate experience becomes a valuable resource in advancing our client's interests.
Our Clients Include:
- Small and medium size businesses
- Large companies
- Entrepreneurs
- Corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships and sole proprietorships
- Private and publicly held companies
- Shareholders, directors, partners, principals and key employees
- Trade and professional associations
- Non-profit organizations
Construction
Kerr, Russell and Weber has a long-standing reputation for excellence in providing construction law services. We represent clients in all aspects of the construction process: owners, lenders, design professionals, general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers. We are involved in commercial, industrial, public construction and residential projects. We bring quick, responsive expertise to contract negotiations and preparation, contract administration and construction claims and disputes. We seek out cost-effective means for resolving disputes, whether through private or third party administered mediation or arbitration or through litigation.
Our capabilities include:
- Structuring joint ventures and limited liability companies among design professionals or contractors for specific projects.
- Preparation and negotiation of construction contracts, professional services contacts and related construction documents.
- Negotiation and resolution of disputes during the design and construction process.
- Assistance in the preparation, analysis negotiation and resolution of construction claims.
- Advising suppliers on credit management programs.
- Preparation of and foreclosure of construction liens and claims on payment bonds.
- Defense of design professionals in claims for negligence / malpractice.
- Arbitration and litigation of construction disputes.
Our Clients Include:
- Developers
- Construction lenders
- Architects and engineers
- General contractors
- Subcontractors
- Suppliers
Early Stage and Emerging Growth Companies
Kerr, Russell and Weber provides a full range of legal services to clients in
the early stages of growth. Our attorneys recognize the very specialized needs
of early stage and growth companies and possess both the knowledge and
experience to help foster continued growth and success.
Our capabilities with respect to early stage and emerging growth companies
include:
- Structuring limited liability companies, corporations, partnerships and
other business entities to maximize applicable legal and tax benefits
- Providing guidance on corporate governance and management strategies
- Introductions to capital providers
- Strategic partnering
- Angel investment
- VC financing
- IPO and other exit strategies
- Stakeholder relations
- Licensing, franchising and intellectual property protection
- Options, appreciation rights and other incentives
- Employee benefits and incentives
- Governmental incentives, tax credits and abatements
- Assistance with real estate acquisitions and leasing
- Litigation and alternative dispute resolution
- Tax and other regulatory compliance
- Non-compete and non-disclosure agreements
Our Clients include:
- Life science and Biotech companies
- Automotive technology companies
- Homeland security and defense companies
- Software and IT companies
- Emerging services companies
- Alternative energy companies
- Logistics and transportation companies
- Early stage investors, including angel investors
For more information on the services we can provide to your company, please
contact Brian Nemes or Daniel Michael at 313-961-0200.
Employment, Fringe Benefit and Personnel Services
At Kerr, Russell and Weber, we have always maintained a strong business orientation. Today, KRW attorneys are involved in employment law on a variety of levels. Our goals are to limit each client's liability in employment and personnel disputes, and to meet client needs as quickly and as inexpensively as possible with a minimum of interruption in day-to-day operations.
Our fringe benefit experience allows us to design and draft qualified and nonqualified retirement plans, health and life insurance programs, and flexible benefit (cafeteria) plans to meet the needs and budgets of our clients.
We emphasize a practical approach, avoiding litigation where possible, minimizing liability, and even addressing employee gatherings when necessary to help explain documents, plans or policies.
Our experience makes KRW an important legal resource in a number of areas:
- Employment termination
- Discrimination
- Labor law
- Immigration/naturalization services involving business personnel transfers
- Design and drafting of ERISA qualified plans, including ESOP's, pension, profit sharing and 401 (k) plans. and of nonqualified executive benefit programs
- Plan terminations, mergers, acquisitions and amendments
- Flexible benefit plans
- Health and life insurance plan consultation
- Analysis of fringe benefit exposure in corporate acquisitions and divestitures
- Individual retirement counseling
- Representation before the IRS and the Department of Labor
Our Clients Include:
- Small and medium size businesses
- Individuals
- Large corporations
- Entrepreneurs
- Corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships and sole proprietorships
- Private and publicly held companies
- Individual employees and consultants
- Retirement plans
Estate and Trust Planning and Administration
Click here to view our current Estate Planning Newsletter
Planning an estate to coordinate client objectives, streamline administration and minimize inheritance tax requires expert guidance. Our estate planning attorneys are on the cutting edge of developments in this area.
At Kerr, Russell and Weber, we believe in a team approach, using our estate planners and tax experts to create effective estate plans. We also counsel Michigan residents who desire to retire or change their primary state of residence to other jurisdictions for tax purposes.
A partial list of KRW's estate planning services include:
- Preparation of Wills, Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts and Grantor Retained Income Trusts (GRAT's)
- Preparation of Durable Powers of Attorney and Living Wills
- Estate planning services, including estate and generation skipping tax analysis, charitable and family gifts, funding for education, Medicaid/nursing home planning, and noncitizen tax planning
- Assistance in trust administration
- Planning for the succession and disposition of ownership in closely held companies
- Probate court representation, including small, independent, supervised and ancillary estates, name changes, guardianships, conservatorships, and adversarial proceedings
- Determination and preparation of returns for federal estate, gift and generation skipping taxes, and Michigan and Florida inheritance taxes
- Preparation of trust and estate income tax returns
- Preparation of decedents' final income tax returns
- Prenuptial and post nuptial agreements
Our Clients Include:
- Individuals
- Entrepreneurs
- Trusts
- Estates
- Charitable foundations
General Civil Litigation
Our litigation experience covers every area of our practice. Members of the firm have been honored for their trial expertise. These honors include the selection of KRW attorneys to the American College of Trial Lawyers and other prestigious litigation organizations. Active leadership roles are also routinely assumed by our attorneys as members of appointed court committees and several trial practice groups.
Our litigation experience allows us, in appropriate circumstances, to avoid litigation, or to reduce its associated client costs and time commitments. When necessary we become involved in dispute resolution and negotiation on behalf of our clients, always mindful of litigation as a final option. Through decades of experience in trial work, we have developed an acute sense of when it is best to try a case or to settle a dispute outside of the courtroom. We keep clients advised and welcome their involvement in making key decisions evaluating both the costs and benefits of going to trial.
Our services include:
- Administrative proceedings
- All pretrial and trial services
- Commercial and personal injury litigation and claims of all types
- Defense of professionals and executives
- Arbitration proceedings
- Mediation and facilitation
- Settlement negotiations and structured settlements
- Appearances before federal and state courts and agencies
Our Clients Include:
- Small and medium size businesses
- Large companies
- Individuals and professionals
- Private and publicly held companies
- Corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships and sole proprietorships
- Insurers
- Trade and professional organizations
- Business owners
- Shareholders
- Corporate Boards and executives
Health Care Law
Kerr, Russell and Weber attorneys work with a variety of health care clients. Our work in the health care arena over the past 60 years has given us broad experience and a well developed sense of the relationships between physicians, insurers, health facilities and patients. We counsel physicians, hospitals and other health care providers, managed care interests, durable medical equipment providers, major groups in organized medicine, and medical staffs. We also counsel assisted living centers, nursing homes and homes for the aged. Our representation of health care clients also includes administrative proceedings, and licensure and litigation services.
Our areas of expertise include:
- Health care contracting and managed care
- Hospital and medical staff matters
- Joint ventures
- Reimbursement
- Professional liability and risk management
- Peer review and professional discipline
Our Clients Include:
- Ambulatory and ancillary providers
- Health maintenance organizations
- Hospitals
- Insurance organizations
- Long-term care institutions
- Managed care entities
- Medical professionals
- Medical suppliers
- Peer review organizations
- Professional associations
- Assisted living centers and licensed homes
- Non-profit organizations
Insurance Law
With the number and variety of insurance arrangements in use today, problems and disputes are often and challenging. Kerr, Russell and Weber can help plan, review and monitor the insurance needs of businesses in a variety of areas.
Our experience over the decades has covered a broad range of insurance issues, such as:
- Fidelity matters
- Suretyship
- Property and casualty
- Director and officer liability
- Self-insurance and group sponsored plans
- Offshore insurance programs
- Licensing and regulation
- Reinsurance
- Coverage matters
At KRW, we are committed to helping clients protect and preserve their rights and minimize their exposure through the use of suitable insurance arrangements. We also provide a full range of appropriate risk management, litigation and corporate counsel services.
Our Clients Include:
- Primary, excess, and reinsurance carriers
- Financial institutions
- Shared risk pools
- Trade and professional groups
- Risk retention and purchasing groups
- Covered individuals and businesses of all kinds
Intellectual Property Law and Litigation
Every business creates uses or depends on intellectual property. It is literally
everywhere. Properly managing, registering, using and protecting these valuable
assets is critical to the success of any business. Kerr, Russell and Weber, in
partnership with our clients, can secure and maintain intellectual property
rights through registration, enforcement and defense against infringement
claims. KRW’s intellectual property lawyers, who are also experienced
intellectual property litigators, can seamlessly advance our clients’ interests
in any forum.
Our capabilities in intellectual property law and litigation include:-
Copyright registrations, licensing and litigation
- Trademark registrations,
licensing and litigation
- Patent licensing and litigation
- Trade secret
protection and litigation
- Technology protection, licensing and litigation
-
Intellectual property management and audits
- Internet and E-Commerce matters
-
Software development and licensing
- Matters before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
Our Clients Include:
- Small and medium size businesses
- Large companies
- Entrepreneurs and
developers
- Corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships and sole
proprietorships
- Private and publicly held companies
- Shareholders,
directors, partners, principals and key employees
- Trade and professional
associations
- Non-profit organizations
Real Estate
The progress, growth and technological achievements of modern America have accelerated the use and development of real estate. This activity has resulted in myriad of laws and regulations concerning real estate.
We are experienced in the entire spectrum of real estate law, including acquisition, financing, development, construction, leasing, litigation and environmental issues. We assist our clients in all aspects of contracting for and evaluating the title and condition of real estate. While a substantial portion of our real estate practice involves business and commercial property, we also provide residential real property legal services.
Our counseling and litigation capabilities include:
- Purchase and sale of real property
- Leasing (for landlords and tenants alike)
- Financing activities (acquisition, development and construction)
- Development of office, industrial and research buildings and parks
- Shopping center development and leasing
- Construction claims, liens and foreclosures
- Platting and subdivision activities
- Zoning, building and use restrictions and other land use limitations
- Environmental regulation, sanctions and compliance
- Mortgages, liens, easements, rights-of-way and other encumbrances
- Construction and development contracting
- Taxation and special assessments
- Tax abatement and revenue bond financing
- Tax increment financing and tax credits for brownfield redevelopment
activities
- State economic development grants for infrastructure improvements
- Roads and highways
- Oil, gas and mineral rights
- Survey, architectural, engineering and other design professional liability
- Condominiums and cooperatives
- Title and boundary disputes
- Condemnation
- Historic sites and structures
- Mortgage foreclosures
- Receiverships
Our Clients Include:
- Developers
- Established businesses, large and small
- Investors
- Architects
- Surveyors
- Lending institutions
- Engineers
- Individuals
Securities Law
Kerr, Russell and Weber represents clients in various aspects of federal and
state securities laws and compliance. The firm advises clients on a broad
array of securities matters ranging from registered offerings and private
placements of securities, to reverse merger acquisitions, to issues affecting
boards of directors, audit and other board committees and corporate officers.
KRW regularly advises its securities clients on:
- Sarbanes-Oxley compliance
- Section 16 reporting for insiders, including
filings on Forms 3, 4 and 5
- Insider trading
- Current and periodic
reporting issues, including filings on Forms 8-K, 10-Q and 10-K
- Business
communications and Regulation FD compliance
- Proxy statement disclosure
-
Annual shareholder meeting preparation
- Exchange listing requirements
-
Corporate governance
- State blue sky law regulation
- Reverse merger acquisitions
- Placement agent agreements
- Registered offerings
Our Clients Include:
- Public companies
- Privately held entities
- Individual shareholders
-
Boards of directors
- Audit and other board committees
- Corporate officers
Taxation
Ongoing changes in this area make it difficult, if not impossible, for most businesses and individuals to plan effectively and to remain in compliance. The tax experts at Kerr, Russell and Weber keep abreast of frequently changing tax legislation, governmental regulations, and judicial and administrative rulings. This requires continuous education and ongoing professional experience to give our clients a deserved edge. KRW tax attorneys participate regularly in continuing legal education and Master of Law programs. In addition, our diverse group of clients-from service to capital oriented businesses-provides a wide perspective from which to anticipate and evaluate problems .
A partial list of KRW's capabilities in tax law includes:
- Planning and structuring mergers, acquisitions, reorganizations and liquidations
- Tax dispute negotiation and litigation (both civil and criminal) with the IRS, and state and local governmental units
- Corporate and personal tax planning
- Executive compensation and employee incentive planning
- Personal estate planning
- Exempt status qualification and maintenance
- Tax abatement procedures
- Tax credits for job creation and retention
- Tax-exempt industrial revenue bond financing
- Structured settlement analysis
- Reporting, returns and compliance
Many of KRW's staff of tax attorneys are also Certified Public Accountants. Our tax professionals are involved in tax law on many levels, from minimizing corporate taxes and penalties through negotiation or litigation . . . to reducing estate taxes significantly through careful estate planning . . . to personal tax planning.
We make it our business to stay on top of tax reform, helping our clients take advantage of new opportunities that may affect their bottom line.
Our Clients Include:
- Small and medium size businesses
- Large companies
- Corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships and sole proprietorships
- Private and publicly held companies
- Individuals
- Investors
- Charitable foundations and trusts
- Exempt organizations
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