Hutchison is a leading business law advisor to the technology and life sciences communities in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. We combine a high level of technical legal skills, practical business judgment and decades of valuable experience.
Our experienced corporate attorneys represent large and small businesses of all kinds, including researchers and innovators across emerging platforms.
We assist our clients through each phase of the business’s life cycle, which typically includes:
Business and Capital Formation for Startup Businesses
One of the first steps in launching a business is to create a company. Choosing the legal form of entity that is appropriate for the company is critical since the form chosen will affect fundamental matters, such as how the business and its owners will be taxed and who can invest in the company. Forming a legal entity can provide significant protection against personal liability. Investors are also not usually willing to participate if a legal entity is not formed.
Equity and Debt Financing for New Businesses
As a company develops, it often needs to raise money to continue to grow. This raising of capital can take the form of equity and/or debt financing. The chosen investment structure must meet the needs of both the company and its new investors.
Business Succession Planning
In some instances, companies explore strategic directions for their businesses. Whether it’s seeking to achieve liquidity for stockholders, acquire complementary business assets, divest a line of business that is no longer essential or become a public company, there are many considerations to navigate to achieve your goals and manage risk.
Our comprehensive understanding of how companies are started, financed and sold has made us the go-to advisors for both early-stage companies and larger and more sophisticated operating companies. We know how to effectively advise the officers and directors on regulatory and compliance matters in order to help them appropriately fulfill their roles and act in accordance with their fiduciary duties.
Our engagement often begins as early as the business planning stage, before the company has even been formed. Hutchison recognizes that startups often have exciting ideas but limited means and resources to negotiate their first steps. When our experienced corporate attorneys get involved at the outset, we are able to guide our clients past many of the pitfalls that await an early-stage company.
As our clients mature and their needs become more complex, we work in cross-functional teams to ensure that our clients receive experienced and insightful advice on any issue that may arise, including privacy and corporate compliance matters.
