Michael J. Newman

Michael provides outside general counsel services to start-up and small to medium size businesses in Illinois. Most of his clients can’t afford to hire a full-time in-house lawyer, so Michael gives them the edge of having a business lawyer on-call without the expense of having a full-time attorney on staff.

Michael regularly forms new corporations and limited liability companies for clients on an expedited basis. This means that your new business can be up and running in as little as 48 hours with all the necessary corporate legal formalities in place, allowing you to open a bank account, purchase assets including real estate, or hire personnel and conduct business immediately.

Michael is also highly skilled at handling the purchase or sale of clients’ business interests, including stock purchases, asset purchases and mergers. He usually gets called in when his clients first contemplate buying or selling a business. Michael normally participates in the negotiations of the terms and conditions of the transaction and then memorialize the agreements reached by the parties in the form of a legally binding contract. Once the contract has been signed and the transaction formalized, Michael works closely with clients and their accountants to conduct or comply with any due diligence required. Once due diligence has been completed, he handles the closing of the transaction and the formal transfer of the business interest.

Michael prepares agreements between shareholders of corporations and operating agreements between members of limited liability companies imposing rights, obligations and restrictions upon the individuals and the business entities. These types of agreements frequently determine outcomes in the event of death, disability, termination of employment, bankruptcy, or sale of an individual’s interest in the business.

All business entities with a presence in Illinois are required by law to designate a resident of the State of Illinois to act as the official registered agent of the business to receive service of process and other official papers. More often than not, business clients request that Michael act as their registered agent in the State of Illinois. Over the years, he has developed special systems and procedures for handling this responsibility and maintaining the requisite documentation to ensure the business remains in good legal standing.