Business Law
Barnett Kirkwood Long Koche & Foster, P.A. has a long tradition of service as business lawyers. The firm has particular experience serving as outside general counsel to businesses in a range of industries and sizes, assisting them with legal matters that impact them throughout their life cycles:
- Entity selection
- Corporate finance
- Corporate governance
- Mergers & Acquisition
Entity selection
In the formation stage, Barnett Kirkwood Koche Long & Foster, P.A. strives to match clients’ business plans with the best entity choice for their specific circumstances using the arsenal of options available in Florida and other states. In recent years, the limited liability company has been a popular choice, but other options include the corporate or partnership models and their various iterations. By following developing law, the firm’s attorneys nimbly adapt strategies to include all available entity selections.
Corporate finance
As a business takes off, it needs financing from one or more sources. Barnett Kirkwood Koche Long & Foster, P.A. helps business clients choose from among the available capital sources suitable to their needs. A founder may need seed capital from family and friends to get the business launched, and additional working capital as the business grows and expands, and for acquisitions. Sometimes that means incurring indebtedness from commercial lenders, seeking shorter-term “mezzanine” financing, or issuing more long-term debt or equity securities.
Corporate governance
If a business has more than one owner, corporate governance issues will be important throughout its life cycle. Barnett Kirkwood Koche Long & Foster, P.A. helps clients tailor the rights and obligations of the owners to one another, determine the procedures for governing management decisions, and establish meaningful exit strategies in written operating agreements, bylaws, partnership agreements, and shareholders agreements. The firm’s attorneys guide business clients through the maze of laws that cannot be altered by contract, such as those governing fiduciary duties owed by controlling equity owners and management.
Mergers & Acquisition
Whether a business is in growth mode or the owner is executing an exit strategy, it is likely to be involved in one or more “merger or acquisition” transactions over its lifetime. Barnett Kirkwood Koche Long & Foster’s attorneys have extensive M&A experience to guide its business clients through the transaction smoothly and efficiently. The close working relationship maintained by Barnett Kirkwood Koche Long & Foster’s business law, tax and real estate departments provides enhanced value to our clients, especially in the M&A arena.
Business Law Litigation
Occasionally business disputes are unavoidable. Whether the dispute involves corporate governance issues, the work-out of debt obligations, or issues arising out of an M&A transaction, Barnett Kirkwood Koche Long & Foster’s commercial litigators and business lawyers work together to provide an effective solution for our business clients.
By establishing long-term professional relationships with business clients, Barnett Kirkwood Koche Long & Foster, P.A. attorneys acquire institutional knowledge of their clients. This knowledge, and the firm’s extensive industry experience crossing boundaries among business law, tax law, real estate law, and commercial litigation, enables Barnett Kirkwood Koche Long & Foster, P.A. to provide targeted services in an efficient manner.
