Essential Industries
You build what the rest of the economy runs on.
Plumbing, electrical, HVAC, roofing, engineering and architecture firms often grow for decades on handshakes and standard forms. We help owners tighten customer and subcontract terms, settle partner and family ownership, and prepare for the day a buyer, investor or successor calls.
Start a conversationHOW WE HELP
Counsel for the decisions a company compounds.
Most owners in these industries have never had a general counsel. We fill that role, from the contracts signed every week to the ownership decisions made once.
Outside General Counsel
Ongoing senior counsel on the contracts, decisions and risks of a growing company, without the cost of an in-house legal department.
Read →Governance & Ownership
Operating agreements, shareholder arrangements, boards and holding structures that settle who controls the business and how
Read →Commercial Transactions
Customer, supplier, distribution and services agreements written to hold up when the relationship is tested.
Read →Succession & Exit
Ownership transitions, buy-sell arrangements, leadership handoffs and sales, planned well before a buyer arrives.
Read →SIGNAL
Written for companies and their owners.
Notes on the issues that come up most often in owner-led businesses.
All 10 SIGNAL articlesThe Artisian Hiring Boom
AI is automating parts of knowledge work while accelerating demand for the electricians, technicians, mechanics and skilled operators required to build and maintain the physical economy beneath it.
The Return of the American Artisan
The AI age will depend not only on models and chips, but on electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians and other skilled people who know how physical systems actually work.
Before the Buyer Calls: Why Essential-Services Owners Should Prepare
Institutional investors are putting substantial capital behind founder- and management-led service businesses. The owners with the most leverage will be the ones who address ownership, governance and transaction readiness before an LOI arrives.
SELECTED EXPERIENCE
Matters of record.
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Manufacturers of a high-profile brand fan in a $500M deal with a private equity firm. The fan manufacturer is the leading manufacturer of high-volume, low-speed industrial fans, lights, and control systems. With approximately 500 patents and patent applications worldwide, as well as hundreds of trademarks, the company places an emphasis on energy efficiency for industrial, commercial and residential use.The fan manufacturer is the leading manufacturer of high-volume, low-speed industrial fans, lights, and control systems. With approximately 500 patents and patent applications worldwide, as well as hundreds of trademarks, the company places an emphasis on energy efficiency for industrial, commercial and residential use.
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Represented Invisible North and predecessor interests in corporate matters, and represented founder and majority owner Ebenezer Bond in the negotiated sale of his ownership interests to fellow founders. Negotiated and closed the founder-liquidity transaction.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Representative matters may include work performed at prior law firms.