Best Law Firms in the United States for Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law

With a rich history deeply rooted in the Central Iowa legal community, Dickinson, Bradshaw, Fowler & Hagen, P.C. boasts one of the largest Iowa-based teams of attorneys practicing in more than 90 areas of law. As a general practice law firm, we provide clients with the highest quality of legal representation, and we recognize the importance of providing personalized representation for each client. Ultimately, our goal is to provide legal services and counseling which enhance the reputation of both the client and the attorney involved.

As a full-service business, litigation and real estate law firm based in Portland, Oregon, Dunn Carney attorneys are able to collaborate effectively and efficiently across practice areas to provide the best solutions possible. Attorneys at Dunn Carney deliver what is important to their clients: expert, coordinated, cost-effective services that are responsive to client needs. As one of Oregon’s largest law firms, we have the talent and resources to deal with the most complex legal problems, but a collegial, team-driven culture that emphasizes the accessibility and responsiveness usually associated with smaller firms.

We believe that consistent service is as important as the expertise provided. For more than 70 years Dunn Carney has provided exceptional legal services to businesses, not-for-profits and individuals throughout the Northwest and the nation. As the only Oregon member of Meritas, a worldwide network of peer- and client-reviewed firms, Dunn Carney has global reach but a local footprint. 

A full service Southeastern-based law firm representing clients across the United States and internationally, Stites & Harbison PLLC is known as a preeminent firm managing sophisticated transactions, challenging litigation, and complex regulatory matters on a daily basis. The firm represents a broad spectrum of clients including multinational corporations, financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies, health care organizations, manufacturers, private companies, nonprofit organizations, family-owned businesses and individuals. Tracing its origins to 1832, Stites & Harbison is one of the oldest law practices in the nation.

The firm maintains 11 offices across six states--Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia--and is able to service the needs of international clients with its memberships in Business Counsel, Inc. and Lex Mundi. Additionally, Stites & Harbison is a member of The Harmonie Group, the national network of top litigation law firms, and is the Kentucky representative to the prestigious Southern Law Network.

At Taft, we work as one team, driven and committed to helping you succeed. Our attorneys understand that innovative, value-creating solutions help our clients reach their goals. Our collaborative approach, advanced technological resources, and depth of services can transform what you expect from your legal team.

With more than 1,100 attorneys, Taft has offices in Chicago, Illinois; Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, and Delaware, Ohio; Aspen, Denver, and Colorado Springs, Colorado; Detroit and Southfield, Michigan; Minneapolis, Minnesota.; Indianapolis, Indiana; Covington, Kentucky; Phoenix, Arizona; Stuart and West Palm Beach, Florida; and Washington, D.C.

Taft attorneys serve individuals and businesses worldwide in both mature and emerging industries.

The firm practices across a wide range of industries in virtually every area of law, including:

• Business
• Bankruptcy and Restructuring
• Employment and Labor Relations
• Energy
• Environmental
  
• Health Care
• Intellectual Property
  
• Lending and Finance
• Litigation
• Private Client
• Real Estate
• Tax

Since 1885, Taft has maintained a constant focus: to provide clients, both large and small, with legal advice and services that meet the highest possible standards.

Affiliated Businesses

As an additional service to our clients, Taft attorneys often partner with members of our affiliated businesses to provide comprehensive service to our clients. Our affiliated businesses include:

• Ginovus
• Taft Advisors LLC
• Taft Business Consulting
• Taft Infrastructure Advisors

Through these businesses, clients can access business consulting across a variety of disciplines, from general planning and forecasting to government relations and public policy.

Awards and Honors

Taft has received numerous awards and honors:

• 108 Taft attorneys and 45 practice areas are listed in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.

• Eight Taft attorneys are listed in Chambers High Net Worth (HNW), and the firm is named a leading law firm in the HNW guide in Private Wealth Law for Indiana, Minnesota, and Ohio.

• Taft is ranked among the Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms." Taft received 20 national Tier 1 rankings, and Tier 1 rankings by metropolitan area in 154 practice areas.

• 363 Taft attorneys were honored with inclusion in the most recent edition of The Best Lawyers in America, with an additional 136 attorneys honored in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America.

• 112 Taft attorneys were named to the most recent list of Super Lawyers by Super Lawyers magazine.

• 78 Taft attorneys were named to the most recent list of Rising Stars by Super Lawyers magazine.

• Taft is rated a Highly Recommended Firm in Ohio and Indiana as well as a Recommended Firm in Minnesota by Benchmark Litigation, and Taft attorneys hold 22 rankings by Benchmark in one or more categories.

Main Areas of Practice:

Business: We provide legal services to public, private, and non-profit clients in a wide variety of industries, including banking, construction, distribution, finance, health care, housing, insurance, manufacturing, private equity, professional sports, real estate, retail, and utilities. Members of the group represent clients of different sizes, from emerging companies to Fortune 500 companies, on issues ranging from local matters to transactions with national and international implications.

Bankruptcy and Restructuring: We represent debtors, lenders, committees, suppliers, real estate owners and developers, equipment lessors, receivers, trustees, buyers and sellers, and other parties in connection with a wide assortment of transactions and litigation. We have extensive experience in the automotive, steel, telecommunications, basic manufacturing, retail and wholesale goods, and distressed-debt trading industries.

Employment and Labor Relations: We represent clients in a wide range of legal services to manage the complex relationship between employers and employees, including labor management relations, employment litigation, day-to-day counseling, benefit plans and ERISA compliance, workplace safety and health, immigration and citizenship, and workers’ compensation.

Energy: We provide full-service representation to a broad range of energy providers, public utilities, transmission-only utilities, independent power producers, developers, regional entities, and other energy-sector participants.

Environmental: We provide services in the areas of trial practice, Superfund defense and negotiation, enforcement defense, cost-recovery for plaintiffs and defendants, criminal environmental defense, environmental insurance and toxic tort litigation, mold and sick building litigation, lawsuits involving environmental problems discovered as a result of real property transfers or mergers and acquisitions, Brownfields redevelopment, defense of claims of occupational exposures, and administrative proceedings before state and federal agencies.

Health Care: We advise individual and institutional healthcare providers, research institutions, and pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology clients in multiple areas of law, including business and finance, employment and labor relations, malpractice litigation, insurance, regulatory and administrative law, ERISA, third-party reimbursement (Medicare, Medicaid and private payers) and hospital financing (tax-exempt bond financing).

Intellectual Property: We counsel and assist clients with patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, intellectual property, and pharmaceutical and life sciences litigation, including Hatch-Waxman litigation, biosimilars, computer software and internet-related issues.

Lending and Finance: Lenders and borrowers alike need lawyers that understand market dynamics and help simplify the complexity of transactions wherever possible. Clients trust our team to bring a practical, business-oriented approach to each transaction. Our team represents lenders and borrowers in all types of financing transactions, including asset-based lending, mezzanine finance, traditional working capital and equipment finance, acquisition finance (senior and mezzanine), capital call lines of credit, real estate finance, equipment leasing, regulatory compliance, investigations and enforcement, and consumer financial services and lending.

Litigation: We represent clients in pretrial, trial and appellate litigation in federal and state courts, before regulatory agencies and arbitration panels, and in alternative dispute resolution in a full range of matters, including antitrust, appellate, bankruptcy, construction, ERISA, education, estates, trusts and fiduciary, environmental, FCPA and international anti-corruption, First Amendment and media law, government contracts, insurance, intellectual property, pharmaceutical and life sciences, product liability and personal injury, securities, sports, and corporate compliance and white collar criminal defense.

Private Client: We counsel owners of family businesses in establishing organizational structures to satisfy current and long-term needs, to plan for the transfer of the business to the next generation (whether during the owner's lifetime or upon death), and to implement strategies. We also represent clients on personal planning, taking into account estate and income tax issues, closely-held businesses, second marriages, and planning for special needs of children and other heirs.

Real Estate: We represent clients in all services related to the acquisition, disposition, financing, leasing, management, and use of real estate, including lease, financing agreement, construction contract, and purchase and sale agreement negotiations, land use representation and litigation, and tax valuation representation and litigation.

Tax: We represent public corporations, financial institutions, domestic joint ventures, new business ventures, non-profit and tax-exempt organizations, and individuals in tax matters such as business transactions, employee benefits and executive compensation, international taxation, mergers and acquisitions, state and local tax, and tax controversy and litigation.