Corporate and Business Lawyers in Northwest Arkansas

As a former chief executive officer of a $1 billion financial institution, former counsel to several financial institutions, and as attorneys involved in numerous and varied banking matters, we bring a unique perspective to bank representation. We can handle various transactional, regulatory, and litigation matters involving banks.

We’ve been a part of leading the strategic growth and acquisition process for a $1 billion asset bank. If you are ready to sell your bank or grow through a strategic acquisition, merger, or other growth strategy, we can help. Having handled examinations by federal and state banking regulators and prosecuted cases on their behalf, we’re ready to work with you to represent your bank in a positive light as it manages these issues.

Experienced in all aspects of the lending process from the perspective of both borrowers and lenders, we’re prepared to work with you on any aspect of a loan, from documentation and negotiation on the front end to payment disputes, litigation, or collection on the back end.

We also bring unique experience with the Bank Secrecy Act, Anti-Money Laundering laws, and related issues. As national leaders in this intersection between banks, financial transactions, law enforcement, prosecution, and regulation, we bring unmatched perspectives, experience, and relationships to BSA, AML, and related matters.

Conner Eldridge is the only former Chief Executive Officer of a Bank to have served as a United States Attorney. Steve Brooks has represented banks, bank customers, and corporations with various lending and capital needs and structures throughout his career. Conner and Steve are ready to work with you on virtually any banking matter you face.

Challenges and questions abound in the rapidly developing world of blockchain, digital currency, and related technology. Our business attorneys bring experience in these areas, as well as payment systems, regulation of currencies, and offerings of tokens. Our lawyers have represented crypto investment funds, advised on crypto regulations and compliance, and formation of NFT ecosystems.

In November 2016, Arkansas legalized medical marijuana, giving rise to various issues. We represent clients across the grow, retail, and specialty trades within the cannabis industry. We have also advised on and deployed unique structures for solving complex M&A transactions in this highly-regulated industry.

Other ways our Northwest Arkansas corporate and business lawyers can help include the following:

• Updates to employment policies and practices
• Advising medical marijuana businesses on tax compliance and implications
• Representing entities and investors in a medical marijuana-related business investment
• Assisting those seeking to apply for a medical marijuana business license
• Representing medical marijuana businesses before regulatory bodies

Our corporate law firm works with employers in diverse industries regarding employee benefits and executive compensation packages. We advise clients in creating and administering non-ERISA employment incentive plans of all kinds, particularly those of equity-backed companies. We’ve helped clients navigate adversarial employment situations, including employee termination.

We bring unique experiences and an effective, practical approach to serving as your corporate attorney and partner as you manage matters involving corporate structure, disputes, and governance. We help our clients create the framework for how a firm is directed and controlled, such as:

• Drafting articles of incorporation
• Creating bylaws
• Advising corporate directors and officers on their rights and responsibilities
• Other policies used to manage the company
  
  

Representing corporations, executives, owners, and shareholders requires more than just familiarity with applicable statutes and best practices. Exceptional representation in these matters also demands a complete understanding of the organizational and ownership dynamic, the underlying problems and their complexities, and the business’s overarching goals.

It also takes dedication to help the company build value. We can work with you to consider all these concerns and ensure your company runs as it should.

Whether you are a small or large business, our corporate and business law firm is here to assist and advise on various employment and labor-related issues. We’ve prepared and negotiated contracts across several industries, covenants not to compete, employment agreements, policies, and handbooks.

We’ve developed policies and agreements to protect our clients’ business interests and trade secrets. We are here to prevent employee claims and frequently advise on employment issues, such as harassment and leave issues involving ADA and FMLA. Ultimately, we are here to ensure our clients are following the best employment and labor practices.

We’re well-versed in healthcare matters from our experience as counsel to doctors, doctor groups, and hospitals and as a banker assisting doctors and healthcare professionals with their lending, deposit, and other financial needs. We’re well-versed in healthcare matters from our experience as counsel to doctors, doctor groups, and hospitals and as a banker assisting doctors and healthcare professionals with their lending, deposit, and other financial needs.

We’ve structured, drafted, and managed numerous merger or acquisition transactions in the healthcare space. We’ve also organized several corporations, partnerships, and entities for healthcare groups and businesses. We’re ready to help you with nearly any legal or business matter in the healthcare industry.

Our attorneys are also equipped to address regulatory issues that overlap with your business, practice, or potential merger or acquisition. We’ve handled healthcare regulatory matters from the perspective of counsel to healthcare clients, a federal prosecutor of healthcare fraud, and investors in the healthcare industry. Whatever your role, we’re prepared to help you with nearly any healthcare regulatory issue you face.

Our business lawyers have deep experience with entity formation, governance, and transactions, including all types of partnerships, limited liability corporations, S-corporations, C-corporations, and other entities. Whether you are starting a new business or addressing structural and entity matters with an existing business and its entities, our corporate law firm is here to help.

As with our approach in all practice areas, we bring our deep experience as attorneys, investors, executives, board members, and partners to represent you in partnership, entity formation, and transactions. We want to understand your objectives so that we can create an entity structure that allows you to achieve success.

We advise clients across diverse industries on all aspects of regulatory compliance. Often, our clients approach us to understand their responsibilities better and manage risks.

We have experience reviewing product labeling, instructions, warnings, and other literature to assess regulatory compliance. Additionally, we have experience enforcing and responding to intellectual property rights issues. We know our clients’ products and businesses and work hard to ensure they stay one step ahead of regulators and have effective productions in place.

We can help you address federal and state securities laws as you evaluate and address capital concerns for your business. Our corporate lawyers represent clients in handling all private placements and securities offerings.

We’ve been on many sides of securities transactions – counsel to companies of all sizes, as investors addressing complicated securities matters for funds and companies, as executives and board members developing and executing capital allocation strategies, and as a federal prosecutor of securities fraud and other financial crimes.

Our attorneys can help you and your business with the following:

• Developing or refining your capital plan
• Looking at all legal and practical implications of raising capital from various sources
• Handling required documents and findings

   

We can also advise you on securities law compliance, including complex regulations to prevent fraud, insider trading, and market manipulation and promote transparency within publicly traded companies. We can address all concerns raised with these capital and securities matters.

Any full and fair evaluation of a business decision, from a strategy call on an existing business area to a sale, merger, or acquisition, should include a comprehensive assessment of the tax consequences. At Eldridge Brooks, we bring our experience as attorneys, a CPA, investors, and executives to every tax implication assessment of various matters for you and your business.

If an issue arises involving civil or criminal enforcement with the Internal Revenue Service, we have the knowledge and resources to help. Having worked closely with the IRS to prosecute tax and money laundering cases, we’re prepared to fully assess the validity of the tax issue, present your position to the IRS, and represent you or your business in dealing with them.

We have the perspective and experience to provide the highest level of representation in the following areas:

• If a federal or state investigative agency has contacted you
• You’re concerned about exposure to a governmental investigation involving financial, regulatory, or white-collar crimes
• You face any stage of a criminal case