We also have significant business law experience in litigating and advising on business deal-related disputes, including those arising out of mergers, stock purchases, asset purchases, and other M&A transactions. Our business lawyers represent both buyers and sellers, and handles disputes involving claims for injunctive relief or specific performance, and other damages or relief. We have also handled common law fraud or misrepresentation claims made in connection with M&A transactions.

Based on our decades of experience in protecting and valuing trade secrets and other intellectual property, we collaborate with business owners and buyers when addressing trade secret intellectual property. We often collaborate with buyers and sellers to conduct a trade secrets audit. This work focuses on the identification, creation, protection, enforcement, and value of a company’s trade secrets and other intellectual capital, including the strength of its noncompete restrictions.

Our attorneys also provide merger and acquisition due diligence services focused on human resource and employment elements of a business. In our experience, when selling a business the value can be significantly affected by employment law and personnel issues. In fact, often the potential for a discrimination claim or uncertainty as to the enforceability of noncompete restrictions often drive down the value of a business by multiples of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

We work with sellers to improve the value of their business by assessing their personnel and HR policies, employment agreements, sales representatives and noncompete agreements, and trade secret protections. With this assessment, buyers can then address employment and personnel shortcomings that a potential seller would likely discover in evaluating the health of the business. For sellers, our goal is to identify hidden employment law and personnel risks and liabilities that erode the value of the business.