Business Services.  We offer a full range of business services to our clients from an analysis of the appropriate entity, its formation and creation to reorganization, sale or merger.  We help your business develop and implement business plans, including selecting the most appropriate entity for conducting your particular business, planning and completing mergers, acquisitions, reorganizations and preparing any necessary documents, registrations or reports.  We have significant experience handling business disputes within entities.

A small sample of the transactional and business services we provide includes:

• Acquisitions & Dispositions of Assets and Businesses

• Business Financings

• Business Organizations, Reorganizations and Mergers

• Business Restructurings

• Employment and Related Matters

• General Legal Advice & Counsel to Institutions & Businesses

Real Estate Services.  We provide a multidisciplinary approach which provides our clients with legal services in the interrelated areas of real estate, financing, tax and business transactions.  With the background and experience that our attorneys possess, our practice provides representation in virtually every area of the real property practice.  Our clients include major developers, financial institutions, title insurance companies, commercial property owners and managers, and individuals.  With our experience in real property matters, we can efficiently assess your needs and develop and carry to conclusion a plan to accomplish your goals.    

Real property services we provide include:

• Condominium & Property Owners Associations 

• Construction Development & Financing 

• Land Use 

• Leasing 

• Real Estate Acquisitions & Dispositions 

• Real Estate Financing & Workouts 

• Title Examination & Title Insurance 

• Zoning  

Litigation.  Our Litigation Section has a proven record of aggressively and successfully representing our clients in a variety of business and trust/estate disputes in both state and federal courts, as well as in alternative dispute resolution forums such as arbitration.  We focus at all times upon our clients’ goals, and counsel our clients from the outset on the stresses and the costs they will incur to achieve those goals. We provide effective and efficient litigation services.

A small sample of the types of disputed matters we have successfully handled includes:

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Probate, Trust and Fiduciary Litigation.  Probate, Trust and Fiduciary Litigation is a complex and often emotional area of litigation.  We combine extensive courtroom expertise and knowledge of this specialized area of the law.  We provide legal counseling based upon substantial experience and common sense.  Our team has worked effectively and efficiently representing estates, beneficiaries and fiduciaries in both the defense and prosecution of will contests, trust disputes, breach of fiduciary duty matters and similar trust, estate and guardianship-related disputes.

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Estate and Tax Planning.  The only certainties in life are said to be death and taxes.  Estate planning at its essence is merely the process of creating a blueprint to deal with both of those things.  While everyone may need estate planning, not everyone needs the same estate plan.  We tailor estate plans to meet your individual needs. 

It takes motivation, skill and perseverance to build a business, develop a career or manage a portfolio of investments; traits which facilitate the accumulation of a certain amount of wealth.  Estate planning permits a person with such traits to maximize the amount of those accumulated benefits that will pass to intended beneficiaries.  In comparison with other investments, estate planning can generate a tremendous return (in the form of estate and other tax savings) on what is otherwise a very small investment (the attorneys' fees).

Even if you already have estate planning instruments in place, your estate planning should be periodically reviewed.  For example, when the makeup and titling of your assets changes or changes in your family or domicile occur, your estate plan may need to be updated.  Your estate planning may also be affected by changes in federal or state law.  Thus, even if your assets and family have not changed, you should review your estate planning documents at least once every five years to confirm your plan accomplishes your goals. 

A small sample of the estate planning and tax techniques which we have used includes:

• Wills

• Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts

• Durable Powers of Attorney

• Health Care Surrogate Designations and Living Wills

• Family Limited Partnerships

• Life Insurance Trusts

• Charitable Remainder and Lead Trusts

• Private Foundations

• Qualified Personal Residence Trusts

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Estate, Trust and Guardianship Administration.  A fiduciary relationship will typically be experienced at some point in everyone’s life.  The relationship might be created at death when a probate estate or testamentary trust is created or during life when a guardianship or an inter-vivos trust is created.  Complex statutes, rules and regulations govern the administration of these fiduciary relationships.  In addition, taxes can be a significant factor with these relationships.  The Trusts & Estates Department can help guide you through the thicket of thorny administration requirements while also potentially saving money through various tax saving techniques and the firm’s efficient use of experienced paralegals and support staff.  If you are a beneficiary of an estate or trust, our practice can advise you to ensure that the fiduciary is complying with his or her fiduciary duties and responsibilities.

A small sample of our administration experience includes: