Departments

Corporate

At Spencer Legal, we don’t believe bigger is necessarily better.  While our attorneys have experience in handling complex domestic and cross-border multi-billion dollar public and private transactions, we focus our corporate practice on domestic private deals in the $2-$49 million range.  We do this because we believe that individuals and companies with deals in this scope deserve the same laser-like attention and excellence that larger entities demand from their lawyers.  Every matter is staffed with lawyers who are prepared to act as your outside general counsel or to navigate specific business transactions, depending on your needs. 

Our work with corporate clients involves counsel on a wide range of matters, such as with the acquisition and sale of companies and business lines.  Our origin as a tax firm makes us adept in advising on more complex tax-driven transactions requiring specialized services. 

We also assist with corporate governance activities including advising boards of directors or managers on procedural and fiduciary obligations as they relate to corporate or other legal entities.  Particularly involving joint ventures, we work closely to negotiate, draft, revise and interpret shareholders agreements and LLC operating agreements to help members reach a “meeting of the minds” and encode that agreement in formal documentation. In each case, we focus on practical solutions to meet your business objectives.  

 

 

Tax

Our tax department is known for providing innovative client-focused solutions to complex situations. The focus is on highly technical areas of taxation and the interplay of taxation to your business goals and non-tax constraints. We work extensively on a wide range of tax questions, including the US tax aspects of cross border transactions, businesses and families, intergenerational (trust & estate) tax planning, tax aspects of business combinations (M&A), tax implications of various equity-based compensation structures, tax aspects of real estate and real estate partnerships, investment tax considerations, cryptocurrency tax questions, non-profit tax reporting obligations, small and mid-sized business tax structuring and audit & appeal (including appeals to the judicial level).

When it comes to clients, our focus is on the interplay of taxation to your goals and non-tax constraints. We want to understand the bigger picture of your tax situation to figure out how we can best leverage our expertise to your benefit. Our tax department is fully integrated with our other departments (Corporate and Trusts & Estates) so your non-tax goals can be attuned to potential tax considerations seamlessly and in real time.

 

Trusts & Estates

Our clients value the careful thought and focus that we devote to each estate plan, whether a “simple” will or a complex trust.  We guide them away from traps for the unwary, identify optimal tax savings, and walk them through the questions that will help them reach their goals. 

With a broad range of tools at our disposal, our solutions include: 

  • strategic planning on intergenerational asset transfers including, as appropriate, wills, trusts and family limited partnerships
  • asset protection and special needs trusts for individuals who may need access to public benefits 
  • succession planning for business owners 
  • testamentary and standalone trusts for minor beneficiaries 
  • revocable trusts for probate-skeptical clients 
  • international guidance for non-citizens with US situs assets and US persons with international assets

We also handle probate and estate administration acting as counsel to executors or administrators of an estate or trust regardless of whether we assisted with drafting the estate plan.   We can assist with obtaining formal certification of executorship or administration, proposed modification or decanting of existing trusts (including judicial oversight of trusts involving minors or charitable remainder beneficiaries), trust or estate accounting, and communication questions around the legal aspects of trusts relating to family members and beneficiaries.

 

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