Eckhart Kolak addresses the full spectrum of business legal issues facing entrepreneurs and middle-market firms, including corporate, financial, tax, real estate, contracts, and negotiations, in a plain and comprehensible way. We are often retained for a specific engagement, but we also act as outside general counsel to support your continuing or emerging legal needs.
Services offered include:
Our client, a successful manufacturer of industrial components, had been owned by the same people for over 30 years. As they approached retirement, they wanted to bring in new ownership from the ranks, both family and non-family employees. We designed a flexible succession plan that enabled the employees to buy stock at affordable prices, but also guaranteed a substantial payout to the original owners at retirement, or to pay estate taxes if they died while still at the company. The new employee-shareholders were locked in with employment and noncompetition agreements. All of the shareholders signed buy/sell agreements to insure that the stock remained within the current ownership group. The net result was that the original owners can rest assured that the company which they built will buy them out at agreed prices and continue beyond them. And the new owners are excited and enthusiastic about the business opportunity they now have.
Eckhart Kolak helps business owners evaluate their options for buying, selling, or merging a business with rigorous, insightful strategies made clear to you. We will recommend the simplest structure for your deal which both meets your objectives and provides a reasonable level of protection from risks. We look for ways to help you save taxes in the transaction — which is important whether you are the seller or the buyer of the business.
Services offered include:
A New York Stock Exchange company made an attractive offer to acquire our client, which had operated a family-held company in the food industry for three generations. After a lot of thought, the shareholders decided it was time to sell. Our objective was to maximize the after-tax gain to our client’s shareholders, while maintaining liquidity. Working with the client’s CEO, we negotiated merger terms, which permitted the client’s shareholders to receive a tax-free exchange of the NYSE company’s stock as payment for their shares. In addition, we recommended that the shareholders receive the right to register their new stock with the Securities and Exchange Commission – at the NYSE company’s cost – to permit them to sell it. Finally, we negotiated employment contracts for the client’s management personnel, securing the additional compensation offered. The deal closed on time and within budget.
Our real estate attorneys are dealmakers who suggest straightforward ways around the toughest impasse in negotiating your purchase and sale or lease. You will always know the status of the transaction and you will be in control of the business decisions which must be made. We work hard after the contract is signed on due diligence and on documents to make your closing easy and effortless.
Services offered include:
We represented an industrial company, which simply outgrew its plant. We negotiated a purchase of vacant land directly from the owner at a favorable price. We prepared construction contracts for the new plant and helped secure low-interest financing through tax-exempt industrial revenue bonds issued by the village. Our client wanted to reward his key employees, not through issuance of corporate stock, but by allowing the key employees to buy an interest in the new plant. We organized a limited partnership to do that, and put a buy/sell arrangement in the limited partnership agreement to keep the ownership interests in the original group. The limited partnership then leased the plant to the industrial company. The plan worked, as all of the key employees have stayed with the company. Afterwards, the plant expanded (twice) and has been refinanced, and a second group of key employees has been added.
Eckhart Kolak attorneys have deep expertise in taxation for business and high net worth individuals. We offer insight and strategies to optimize and, if possible, reduce your tax liabilities. One of our strengths is to explain the tax risks and opportunities in a comprehensible way.
Services offered include:
Following a merger, our client received a large block of restricted stock in a single public company. The client wanted to sell much of the stock and diversify his portfolio, but didn’t want to pay the large capital gains tax that would be assessed. We asked the client about his long term objectives and discovered that he wanted to provide a steady source of income for himself and his wife, and also to benefit a charity. We therefore recommended that a large block of the stock be placed in a charitable remainder trust with a corporate trustee. The trustee would sell the stock and diversify the portfolio, paying an annuity to the client and his wife for life. The stock was sold without payment of the large capital gains tax. The couple has a steady income stream for the future, and an immediate income tax deduction that the client used to offset gains from sales of stock outside of the trust.
Our estate planning and administration capabilities start and end with your goals. We structure and administer estate plans to make sure your goals are accomplished and the value of your estate is maintained. And we show and tell you how your plan will work in simple and plain terms you can understand.
Services offered include:
A couple came to us concerned about estate taxes, asset protection and succession planning. They wanted to provide for their children, but they wanted their children’s inheritances to be protected from creditors. We first considered the couple’s needs without thinking of the tax ramifications, as we wanted to a plan that met their wishes and was not driven by taxes. We then considered how to achieve the couple’s goals in a way that was both tax-efficient and flexible, to allow for additional planning as conditions changed. Ultimately, we created a limited partnership in which the clients, their children, trusts, and a limited liability company were partners. The couple and their children each contributed assets to the partnership, and the couple then sold and gifted partnership interests to the trusts, which were for the children and grandchildren. The LLC managed the partnership, and was run by the children, who are now managing the family assets and diversifying the family’s business interests, including real estate developments and franchises. The couple also created a life insurance trust for the children and designated a family charitable foundation as the beneficiary of their large retirement plans, thus avoiding both estate and income tax on these assets at death.
At Eckhart Kolak, we believe that fees should be transparent. We do not want our clients to be surprised by our service costs. We have made our fee structure clear and straightforward. Here is what you can expect:
We follow the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct of Lawyers, established by the Supreme Court of Illinois, in setting our fees. The key factors affecting the price of each engagement are:
We discuss legal fees at the first meeting with each client. We provide written estimates on all larger assignments and one-time engagements. We develop budget figures for recurring business work. Our engagement letters set forth the scope of our services, responsibilities we accept, cost estimate or the basis for our fees, and terms for payment.
We make sure our fees are consistent with those charged in the Chicago area for similar legal services. For most assignments, our fees will be based on hourly rates. If the time and effort required are readily predictable, we quote a flat fee.
Our estimated fees are based on a defined scope of work and time commitment. We make every effort to keep you apprised of any changes that may impact your total cost before they are incurred.
We bill monthly so that there are no surprises at the end of a long engagement. Our invoices contain a detailed description of the services performed, documents prepared, and results obtained.
How do I know if I need a new lawyer?
You need a new lawyer if:
How do I know you are the right firm for me?
If you are an entrepreneur, an owner of a middle market business, or a member of a prosperous family, chances are that we are a good fit for your legal work. A brief meeting or phone call will confirm that. If your legal work requires a specialty we don’t maintain (such as personal injury litigation, patent, or criminal law), we will refer you to a specialist we regularly work with in that area.
I’ve got a lawyer now, but I think I need a second opinion. Can you give me that, without expecting me to commit to your firm?
We regularly give second opinions. We will do a review of your situation, and give you a fresh appraisal and our candid advice. We have found that in many cases, your existing lawyer is doing the right thing, and your discontent is due to a simple lack of communication. In any case, it’s best to check. Sometimes you need to make a change.
How much do you charge?
We can’t quote legal fees in the initial conversation over the telephone, no more than a physician can tell you how much it’s going to cost to get well, based on one phone call. We need to meet with you face-to-face to determine what legal services are needed, just as a physician must do an examination before prescribing treatment. At the conclusion of the first meeting, we will give you the basis of our fees, which may be our hourly rates and an estimate of the time required for your project, or, in appropriate cases, a flat fee.
Do I have to come to your offices in the Loop?
No. We will come to your business or home if more convenient for you.