Corporate Law

Throughout its over eighty-year history, The McLane Law Firm has been serving the corporate and business needs of a broad spectrum of businesses in New Hampshire and northern New England. Our clients range from small closely-held corporations, or partnerships, to large regional, national and international corporations. Whether we represent our clients on a continuing basis or as special counsel on a specific matter or transaction, our goal is to understand and achieve their legal and business objectives.

Our Small Business Group assists clients in all aspects of new and emerging businesses. Our firm provides legal services to business clients in a broad range of matters, including:

Business Formation: Our lawyers advise clients on the many issues that should be considered when forming a business, such as whether a business should be operated as a proprietorship, a partnership, a limited liability company, or a corporation; whether the client should elect "S" Corporation status; whether subsidiaries should be formed; and the tax, financial and liability ramifications of these decisions.

Business Contracts: We have extensive experience in drafting and negotiating various types of business contracts, including management and employment agreements, non-competition and protection of trade secret contracts, shipping documents, bills of sale, product warranties, leases and production requirement agreements.

Mergers and Acquisitions: When a business decides to expand through acquisition or merger, issues relating to tax planning, capital and debt financing, asset evaluation, transactional negotiations, and credit considerations require the services of attorneys who are experienced and knowledgeable in these areas.

Corporate Finance: We regularly represent companies in debt and equity financing transactions, including conventional commercial borrowing, non-bank institutional debt transactions, public and private stock offerings, ESOP transactions, and negotiated venture capital financings.

Commercial Litigation: In most circumstances, law suits involving employer-employee matters, performance of business contracts, breach of warranty claims, collection of accounts receivable, franchise or marketing disputes, and borrowing transactions require an experienced trial lawyer and a practical business attorney. With The McLane Firm, the client gets both.

Administrative Law: Our firm often finds it necessary to work with various state and federal regulators and offices which may be involved, at one time or another, in transactions such as those identified below. These agencies include: the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Internal Revenue Service, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the New Hampshire Bank Commissioner, the Board of Trust Company Incorporation, the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission, the New Hampshire Bureau of Securities Regulation, the New Hampshire Insurance Department, the Department of Revenue Administration, the Department of Employment Security, and other New Hampshire state agencies that regulate various aspects of the activities of our clients. We have developed a reputation at these agencies for diligence, forthrightness and honesty in representing the interests of our clients.

International Matters: A number of our business clients conduct their activities throughout the United States and in foreign countries. Assisting them with contractual documents, financing and credit terms, and shipment and delivery of goods to North America South America, the European Community, and Pacific Rim nations is a component of our services. We can help domestic businesses starting out in the international marketplace seek out effective strategic partnerships and complete documentation in the form required by a foreign partner to make transactions work.

Our attorneys have significant experience in more complex corporate, business and financial transactions, including:

• Entity acquisitions with values ranging from less than $1,000,000 to more than $100,000,000;
• short- and long-term corporate financial arrangements such as lines of credit, revolving loans, warehouse loans, asset-based loans, secured corporate debt issuance, corporate debentures and venture capital transactions;
• public and private stock and equity offerings - interstate and intrastate;
• purchases and sales of businesses in both asset-based and stock-based transactions;
• conversion of New Hampshire savings banks to commercial banks, incorporation of new savings and commercial banks, establishment of publicly held registered bank holding companies, and acquisition and merger of independent savings or commercial banks by other banks and bank holding companies; and
• securitization and sale of mortgage-backed certificates and securities to the secondary mortgage markets.

Our attorneys are available to provide advice and counsel on varied corporate planning and governance issues for businesses, including those related to:

• reorganizations, mergers and consolidations;
• shareholder's rights plans, poison pills and other corporate defensive measures;
• director, officer and lender liability issues; and
• annual meeting of directors and shareholders of publicly owned corporations.

Our constant objective is to provide a timely solution or a completed transaction at a reasonable cost to our client. The McLane Law Firm offers its business clients responsiveness, the highest quality of work, and a commitment to accomplishing these goals in the most economical way possible.

For further information contact our Corporate Law Attorneys at (603) 625-6464.

Publication Projects: "Incorporation and Tax Exemption for New Hampshire Arts and Other Organizations: An Introductory Guide" compiled and edited for the New Hampshire Business Committee for the Arts

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