Business Law
Practical advice to move your business forward at any stage
Capabilities at a glance
- We combine the resources that a national, full-service firm can offer with the individualized attention your business deserves. You will have access to lawyers who are experienced at handling any business legal issue.
- We focus on building long-term relationships. We recognize the value of building long-term relationships, rather than capitalizing in the short-term. We also provide scalable resources for special projects and strategic transactions.
- We provide broad industry experience and subject-matter knowledge. We have a deep bench of attorneys who are immersed in a range of industries and experienced across multiple transactional practice areas.
- Clients value our efficiency and pragmatism. Efficiency, pragmatism and cooperation are the hallmarks of Quarles and what our clients have come to both value and expect.
Unwavering commitment to client service
Our philosophy of establishing true partnerships and lasting relationships with clients directs how we do business. We will work with you on every engagement to understand your objectives, provide proactive counsel, create efficiencies, communicate, manage fees in a predictable manner and find ways to add value. Our clients range from entrepreneurial startups to mature family-owned businesses to Fortune 100 global companies, and we have assisted them in every aspect of business law, including strategic M&A deals, debt and equity financing, regulatory reporting and compliance, governance and day-to-day operations. Whether we serve as your ongoing advisors or for only one engagement, we will look to create efficiencies and achieve your objectives. We want to understand your industry and your business, so we can become the trusted legal advisors you turn to with any challenge or opportunity.
Holistic support from a well-integrated, full-service firm
As a full-service national firm, we can employ and coordinate a wide range of services to any matter that may affect a business or transaction. We bring broad experience in corporate, finance and tax matters, and can draw on our colleagues’ significant transactional experience in areas such as intellectual property, litigation, labor and employment, employee benefits, environmental, immigration and real estate, when needed. The close working relationship among Business Law attorneys and Quarles attorneys in these other areas helps clients avoid redundancies, inefficiencies and delays. Although we are fully capable of developing creative solutions to unique challenges when necessary, we find that our clients often are seeking practical guidance and advice on transactions and other projects that might be novel for them but are commonplace for us. In those situations, we focus on simplifying the matter, helping our clients understand the various risks and opportunities, and completing the projects efficiently and effectively.
News & Insights
Business Law Training Series
See more at our Business Law Training (BLT) seminar/webinar series page.
Business Law Focus Areas
Antitrust and Trade Regulation
Our Antitrust and Trade Regulation team is made up of a core of experienced attorneys with deep knowledge of state and federal antitrust, pricing and unfair competition law. Our attorneys are well-versed in antitrust law, and each member of the group has specific industry knowledge. This enables us to assign attorneys to client matters in a way that maximizes the likelihood of success. Our team provides legal services in three key areas: business planning and structuring counseling, regulatory compliance and government investigations, and litigation. We believe that when investigations, disputes or litigation arise, they must be addressed vigorously by an experienced and confident legal team.
Bank Regulatory and Governance
Our Bank Regulatory and Governance team covers all banking aspects of a client’s business, including regulatory compliance, agency supervision and enforcement, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), corporate governance and securities matters. Our bank regulatory services include compliance, monitoring, oversight, response to regulatory examination issues, and representation before agencies — including with respect to enforcement actions. Our attorneys have a wide range of backgrounds and skills, though we are particularly experienced in engagements involving banks that are considering adding to their geographic or business line footprint. We have broad experience in the transactional and regulatory aspects of acquisitions of small community banking institutions, as well as regional, national and international financial institutions; private banks; wealth managers; and investment funds. Quarles brings a unique level of experience and perspective to our financial institution clients’ regulatory matters, and we create true value for our clients with our knowledge, judgment and advice.
Cannabis Industry
In the cannabis industry, we primarily provide companies with transaction-related services that are essential to expansion in a competitive market, as well as services that support their ongoing operations. We have represented public and private companies in the U.S. and Canada in M&A and other strategic combinations; acquisitions, dispositions and leasing of cannabis-related properties; equity and debt financings; and other commercial transactions. We also have assisted health care providers on regulatory and licensure issues related to cannabis. We can assist a variety of participants in the cannabis industry with a full range of business services, including:
- M&A, joint ventures and other strategic alliances
- Regulatory, including regulatory compliance, licensing, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, FDA approval and evolving financial services regulatory issues
- Corporate governance
- Financing arrangements
- Commercial agreements and supply chain issues
- Land use, municipal zoning, special use permits and dispensary licensing
- Tax counseling
- Employment and immigration
- Environmental
- Litigation
We have a team of attorneys with diverse legal backgrounds who have deep technical knowledge of the cannabis industry and its regulation, and who can help make the best out of your business opportunities.
Commercial Finance
With Quarles, you can expect sophisticated work on commercial finance transactions delivered with a consistent focus on your needs. We will always deliver practical, efficient solutions with your business objectives in mind. As a full-service national firm with offices across the country, we have the depth and flexibility to respond quickly and clearly to any challenge or opportunity you encounter.
Corporate Finance and Securities
Our Corporate Finance and Securities team provides legal counsel to issuers, underwriters, buyers and sellers on a full range of securities laws and regulations, corporate finance transactions and business combinations.
We counsel clients across a full spectrum of areas that have corporate finance or securities implications, including:
- Corporate governance
- Public offerings of equity, debt and hybrid securities
- SEC reporting and disclosure obligations
- Proxy solicitations, including proxy regulation, compliance and proxy contests
- Exempt offerings, including private placements and Rule 144A offerings
- Fund transactions and activities, including regulatory approvals, blue sky law compliance and fund operation
Our team has a wide range of experience across multiple industries, as well as the technical regulatory knowledge to help clients make sound decisions.
Corporate Governance and Compliance
The regulatory and compliance burdens associated with corporate governance demand sophisticated legal assistance. We understand businesses and nonprofits have to comply with changing federal and state legal requirements and be ready to respond to a growing emphasis on best practices to lead a vibrant and effective organization. Quarles brings together a talented team of professionals that provides knowledgeable advice in the rapidly evolving area of corporate governance. Our governance assistance is always specific to the needs of a particular client. In this area, we have counseled public and private business organizations and nonprofit organizations of all types — from family-owned entities to financial institutions, from charities to pharmaceutical companies.
Corporate Venturing
Corporate venturing has become a key component in the strategic plans of many companies in recent years. Our Corporate Venturing team works with clients to evaluate, develop and execute venture investments to access emerging technologies and gain access to products that will help expand their existing business. The challenge to executing a successful venture investment is to find the right platform, technology and management team in which to make an investment. Our historic representation of large companies in established industries, coupled with our significant experience in the emerging company, startup and venture capital space, means we have the unique blend of skills needed to successfully guide your strategic venture investment. We also can help you evaluate and implement a formalized corporate venturing program so you can plan strategically for your future success.
Emerging Growth Companies and Venture Capital
We understand how to guide a full range of participants through the complexities of rapidly changing and competitive industries. We represent entrepreneurs and emerging startup or growth companies from formation to exit, in a variety of corporate matters, including equity, convertible instruments and debt financings, commercial contract drafting and negotiations, employment and onboarding matters and mergers, sales and other liquidity events.
General Corporate and Outside General Counsel Services
Companies rely on Quarles as outside general counsel because we offer the depth of skill and breadth of experience necessary to achieve their business objectives. Whether the issues are complex or straightforward, our lawyers will always deliver the appropriate level of resources to complete the task at hand. Serving as a strategic advisor, we provide efficient, day‐to‐day counsel across a range of legal disciplines.
German Language Counsel
The Quarles team of experienced, native and fluent German-speaking attorneys is deeply experienced on a wide array of business law and commercial litigation matters, and also regularly pulls in colleagues from across the firm to advise clients on any other legal issue that arises.
International Trade and Regulation
Most business transactions now have an international component to them. Even many purely domestic businesses sell products or services overseas or procure from overseas suppliers. The Quarles International Trade and Regulation team assists companies in navigating the maze of U.S. laws and regulations that apply to cross-border transactions and doing business internationally.
Investment Management
We assist institutional investors across the broad spectrum of their investment needs, including primary investments in all fund types, such as private equity, venture, credit, infrastructure, hedge, commodity, funds-of-funds and real estate funds, as well as co-investments and secondary transactions. This includes advising institutional investors on market terms; equity, debt and hybrid co-investments; developments in the marketplace (e.g., the private equity principles of the Institutional Limited Partner Association); side-letter agreements; the regulatory environment; and the latest legislative and case law developments.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Our M&A team has substantial experience beyond what is common for most firms of similar size. Our decades-long focus on private equity has allowed us to build a sophisticated understanding of not only transactional legal terms, but also equity and debt structures, management and control rights, executive compensation and equity incentives, and portfolio development. We have extensive private equity experience in both platform transactions and add-on acquisitions and related equity and debt financing. We also have an even longer history of helping family-owned and other private businesses engage in strategic M&A, as well as succession planning and exit transactions.
Private Equity
The Quarles Private Equity team supports private investors in every phase of the investment cycle. Our attorneys help clients advance their strategies with practical, solutions-oriented guidance in a wide variety of private equity transactions, including leveraged buyouts, add-on acquisitions, recapitalizations, growth capital and minority investments, and portfolio company exits. We leverage our diverse resources as a leading full-service firm to deliver cost-effective, practical results.
Tax
Our robust national Tax Practice Group encompasses all areas of federal, state and local taxes. Our accurate advice, attention to detail and awareness of new developments creates value for a wide range of clients, from small startups to industry-leading global entities. Our practice includes transactional planning and business structuring, as well as representation on other tax-specific advice and issues such as tax credit utilization and tax disputes. Because we recognize the pitfalls of letting tax considerations alone drive a transaction, our philosophy is to keep tax issues in perspective and help further our clients' overall business objectives. When tax challenges and disputes arise, our attorneys are experienced in all aspects of dispute resolution, from dealing with the IRS and state departments of revenue to winning tax appeals in the courts.
Tax Credits
The Quarles Tax Credit team has existed for over 30 years and is composed of tax, real estate and finance lawyers. Our attorneys have broad experience in low-income housing, new markets, historic, film and other state-specific tax credits, and are well-positioned to offer a full range of services to our clients. We have worked on hundreds of low-income housing tax credit transactions, representing a variety of parties, including equity investors (both corporate and fund investors), first mortgage lenders, equity investors who were also first mortgage lenders, and developers — both for-profit and not-for-profit. Our team has also been involved with new markets tax credits since the inception of the program, putting together myriad deals for our clients, which include borrowers, developers, tax credit investors, leverage lenders and community development entities (CDE).
Tax-Exempt Organizations
As part of a full-service firm with offices across the country, we blend the responsive, focused attention of a boutique practice with the resources of a national firm, offering common sense solutions to complex legal concerns. This practical attitude is coupled with our attorneys' exceptional legal knowledge and extensive real-world experience.
