We counsel our business clients on all aspects of the formation, structuring, financing and operation of their companies. We also assist them in acquisitions, mergers, divestitures, and succession planning. Our lawyers regularly work on the tax, employment, contracting and intellectual property issues that confront our clients. Our business clients come in all shapes and sizes, from corporations to partnerships to limited liability companies. Many clients began working with us as start-ups, and continue to counsel with us as mature, highly profitable ventures. In addition to the many for-profit businesses we represent, we include as clients many nonprofit organizations, such as health care facilities and charitable organizations. Lawyers: James P. Farmer Jr. Joseph P. Gibbons Thomas J. Lafond Kenneth J. Laino Todd K. Masuda Jonathan L. Stark James D. Vail Sonja C. Rajki
We work with entrepreneurs and their advisors to help coordinate personal and business finances in designing tax-minimization estate plans that integrate effectively with the succession of business ownership. Many of our clients are entrepreneurs who have spent a lifetime building their family business. The transfer to the next generation of a family business presents a number of tax and non-tax challenges. We use sophisticated planning vehicles to minimize the tax cost of the transfer. We also provide advice on corporate planning issues to ensure an orderly transition of ownership and control. Lawyers: Charles F. Adler James P. Farmer Jr. J. Paul Fidler Thomas J. Lafond Kenneth J. Laino Jonathan L. Stark James D. Vail
We advise individuals and charities on outright and planned gifts by providing advice to individuals and organizations and their advisors on: The personal and tax advantages of forming and obtaining tax exempt status for family foundations and supporting organizations. Structuring planned gifts to charities using charitable remainder and lead trusts and gift annuities. Lawyers: Charles F. Adler J. Paul Fidler David M. Lenz Sandra C. Lucas Phillip A. Ranney
We counsel our clients in a broad range of employment law matters, including executive compensation planning, non-compete and non-disclosure issues, employee handbooks and policies, as well as non-discrimination compliance. We also represent our clients in state and federal court, and before administrative agencies, in wrongful discharge claims and lawsuits asserting discrimination based on race, age, gender and disability. Lawyers: James P. Farmer Jr. Jonathan L. Stark James D. Vail Sonja C. Rajki
In the event of a client’s death, we assist the client’s family in the sometimes complex process of estate settlement to help ensure a smooth and efficient transfer of the client’s assets to the beneficiaries named in his or her will. This process includes guiding the client’s family through the probate court system, filing tax returns, handling any audits with the IRS and state taxing authorities, dealing with creditors of the client’s estate, and assisting with the liquidation of estate assets. Lawyers: Charles F. Adler James P. Farmer Jr. J. Paul Fidler Kenneth J. Laino David M. Lenz Sandra C. Lucas Phillip A. Ranney
Our work goes far beyond wills, trusts and tax returns. We help our clients design estate plans that range from simple wills to complex wealth preserving estate plans. We also help our clients create family foundations, and serve as trusted advisors in the management and transfer of our clients’ wealth. We often represent two or three generations of the same family, serving as a bridge between generations to ensure that values, wishes and goals are preserved. Our relationship with a client and his or her family typically begins with a series of meetings designed to gather information about the client’s family and assets, as well as the client’s goals and concerns. At these meetings, we inform our clients about the estate and gift tax system, and how it impacts the planning process. We explore lifetime giving programs designed to minimize the impact of estate taxes on the transfer of family wealth. Once the client selects his or her desired plan, we draft the wills, trust agreements, powers of attorney, and other documents needed to implement the plan. We help our clients make their estate plans fully operational by assisting with transfers to avoid probate, life insurance beneficiary designations and income and gift tax returns. Lawyers: Charles F. Adler James P. Farmer Jr. J. Paul Fidler Joseph P. Gibbons Thomas J. Lafond Kenneth J. Laino David M. Lenz Sandra C. Lucas Todd K. Masuda Phillip A. Ranney James D. Vail
We organize, administer and act as counsel for private family foundations. We incorporate, obtain tax-exempt status from the IRS, and help families adopt mission statements, investment policies and grant investigation and grant-making policies. Members of the firm, with assistance from a grant administration consultant, initiate grant proposals, review unsolicited grant proposals and prepare information for foundation trustees to use in making decisions on foundation grants. We attend meetings of the foundation and supervise the corporate housekeeping matters. As counsel for foundations, we advise trustees and foundation managers on liability issues such as the area of “disqualified persons” and “self-dealing,” and we advise on tax and fiduciary considerations in grant-making. We also prepare foundation tax returns. The foundations we represent have made substantial charitable gifts, often leveraged as matching gifts, for the benefit of educational institutions, museums, economic development, environmental protection and social service organizations in Greater Cleveland and Northeastern Ohio. Lawyers: Charles F. Adler J. Paul Fidler David M. Lenz Phillip A. Ranney
We represent individuals in divorce, separation, and dissolution of marriage proceedings. We advise clients on the division of property, the valuation of assets (including business valuations), issues surrounding non-marital assets, spousal and child support, and matters relating to the determination of parental rights and responsibilities. We also prepare and review prenuptial agreements. We represent clients in both Domestic Relations Courts and Juvenile Courts, primarily in Northeast Ohio, and handle appeals of decisions from these courts when necessary. Lawyers: Janice Edgehouse Rieth Thomas J. Lafond Ryan P. Nowlin
We help health care providers meet their many challenges, from obtaining and maintaining their tax exempt status to compliance with regulatory issues such as HIPAA to confronting increasing liability claims in the face of disappearing liability insurance to managed care contracting. Our lawyers work on the financing, organizational and licensing issues faced by our health care clients, as well as contracting and employment issues faced by many sophisticated businesses. Lawyers: Kenneth J. Laino James D. Vail Sonja C. Rajki
We represent our clients in many different types of litigation, from complex business litigation to discrimination claims to contract disputes. Our lawyers have tried cases in state and federal court, and prosecuted appeals in state and federal court, including the U.S. Supreme Court. We also have extensive experience in arbitrations and mediations. Lawyers: Ryan P. Nowlin Jonathan L. Stark James D. Vail
We have extensive experience in handling many types of trust and estate litigation, including Will contests, Will and Trust construction cases, defense and prosecution of fiduciaries for breach of fiduciary duty, accounting actions, and defense and prosecution of liability and creditor claims by and against estates. Lawyers: Charles F. Adler J. Paul Fidler Joseph P. Gibbons Jonathan L. Stark James D. Vail
We provide a wide range of both commercial and residential real estate services for our clients. We represent clients in the acquisition, development, financing, leasing, and sales of real estate. We have experience in negotiating and drafting conservation easements. We also advise our real estate clients on environmental issues, Mechanic’s Lien law, and disputes involving real property, including eviction proceedings. Lawyers: James P. Farmer Jr. Joseph P. Gibbons Kenneth J. Laino Jonathan L. Stark James D. Vail Sonja C. Rajki
For some individuals, IRAs, Roth IRAs, annuities, and company-sponsored plan assets, such as 401(k)s and defined benefit pension plans, make up the largest portion of their estate. We help our clients make retirement plan elections, beneficiary designations, and lifetime distributions that integrate properly with the rest of their financial and estate plans. We also counsel clients with “inherited” retirement plan assets about rollover and distribution strategies. The most recent IRS regulations and rulings on retirement plan distributions offer opportunities to save significant income taxes for those who engage in proper planning. We help our clients optimize those opportunities. Lawyers: Charles F. Adler J. Paul Fidler Sandra C. Lucas Phillip A. Ranney
We counsel our individual and business clients on complex issues relating to income taxation, Ohio and federal estate taxation, and generation-skipping transfer taxation. We prepare Ohio and federal tax returns on behalf of individuals, estates, trusts, and foundations. In addition, we advise nonprofit organizations on issues relating to their tax-exempt status. Lawyers: Charles F. Adler J. Paul Fidler Sandra C. Lucas Todd K. Masuda Phillip A. Ranney James D. Vail
Our roots in the Cleveland legal community date back to 1895. For more than 100 years, our clients have often entrusted us with the responsibility of serving as Trustees of the trusts created for their families and other loved ones. We have experience not only with the tax-related aspects of trusts administration, but also with the sometimes difficult non-tax issues faced by our clients’ families. Lawyers: Charles F. Adler James P. Farmer Jr. J. Paul Fidler Joseph P. Gibbons Kenneth J. Laino David M. Lenz Sandra C. Lucas Phillip A. Ranney James D. Vail
