Overview of General Business Counseling Practice

Pedersen & Houpt's General Business Counseling Practice encompasses a broad array of legal services designed to meet the day-to-day needs of our corporate clients.  Our firm has extensive experience guiding small, entrepreneurial companies as well as larger businesses through the myriad of legal issues involved in the operation of both growing and established companies.

Pedersen & Houpt attorneys counsel clients on the formation of new limited liability companies, limited partnerships, corporations and other entities.  After these entities are formed, our firm's corporate paralegals utilize an internal database and work with our clients to ensure that the corporate records are properly maintained, the filings for the company to qualify to do business in all applicable jurisdictions are made and all applicable franchise taxes are paid.  In addition, the attorneys in our General Business Counseling Practice regularly prepare, review and negotiate general commercial contracts and advise clients on other corporate governance, tax and finance matters.

Pedersen & Houpt also serves as "general counsel" for many middle market companies which are headquartered in the Chicago metropolitan area.  This arrangement permits our lawyers to immerse themselves in our clients' business and in turn be able to properly service most areas of law a company may require.  The value to the companies we serve in this way is measured by our ability to know their people, culture, business and industry.  This knowledge can only be obtained by physically being on-site at our client and learning about its business environment and processes.  Partnering with our clients in this way delivers legal advice as an important component of the company's business strategy and ultimately, enhances financial performance.

When Pedersen & Houpt attorneys serve in a "general counsel" capacity, we handle many types of legal issues that arise throughout our client's growth and company life cycle, including tax, employment law and employee benefits, intellectual property and ownership succession matters.  Our general counsel program also provides corporate transactional services such as preparing and negotiating commercial contacts with vendors, suppliers and distributors, evaluating compliance of product sale warranties with the Uniform Commercial Code, securities matters and real estate and related environmental work.  In addition, members of our Litigation Practice can handle commercial litigation relating to infringement of intellectual property rights, employment law claims and breach of contract and other commercial disputes.

The following are some specific examples of our General Business Counseling experience:

• Pedersen & Houpt is "on call" to handle various legal matters for a national steel product manufacturer based in the Chicago area.  Our arrangement with this client includes a specific Pedersen & Houpt attorney visiting the company's department and division heads on a regular basis to answer questions and provide legal advice on operations and management issues including employment law, protection of intellectual property and assets, real estate, environmental and creditor issues.  Our attorneys also review all the company's contracts (exceeding a certain dollar amount) related to purchasing, leasing and hiring, employee documentation and records prior to termination.  We also create policies and guidelines related to purchasing and dealing with employees.
  
  
• Pedersen & Houpt serves as general counsel for a U.S.-based manufacturer and supplier of nozzles and spraying equipment worldwide.  We handle the company's U.S. transactional and litigation matters and have been involved in acquisition and distributor arrangements throughout North and South America, Asia, Africa and Europe.  With respect to transactional work, we handle acquisitions and divestitures, distributor and employment contracts, real estate and leasing, financing, tax, and estate planning requirements of the company and its officers and directors.  We also handle the company's litigation which has included product liability and employment claims.  Our firm also coordinates representation in Europe, Asia and Central and South America for this client.
  
  
• Pedersen & Houpt provides general counsel services for a plastic component manufacturer for the OEM market which has its worldwide headquarters located in the northern suburbs of Chicago.  We have represented this client in several merger and acquisition and financing transactions and have structured and negotiated a joint venture agreement with an inventor of technology utilized in the manufacturing of the new product.  We also handled a variety of employee benefits matters for this client.
  
  
• Pedersen & Houpt performed and coordinated the U.S. and Canadian legal work for the American subsidiary of a Japanese computer controlled equipment manufacturer prior to its acquisition by a larger publicly-traded corporation.  We handled the company's distributor agreements, contract issues, debt collection, real estate, and litigation (which included product liability, employment contract, distributor, warranty and product performance disputes) for their U.S. operations.
  
  
• Pedersen & Houpt represented a diversified manufacturer of metal components and systems headquartered in the Western suburbs of Chicago in structuring a joint venture with another manufacturing firm to establish manufacturing operations in Mexico. Pedersen & Houpt assisted in the formation of a new Mexican subsidiary, structured and drafted a joint venture agreement with respect to the new Mexican operations and negotiated the terms of a credit facility to fund these operations.
  
  
• Pedersen & Houpt represented a Michigan-based plastic blow molding manufacturer in connection with an equipment purchase transaction and a custom manufacturing and supply arrangement with a division of a publicly-traded corporation which sold children's toys to national retail chains.