Business Practice

Forming the Company: The Garrett Law Firm has extensive experience in forming new businesses. Its attorneys work with clients to determine which business entity will best meet their specific needs. The choice may have consequences for:

• taxation
• personal liability
• management structure
• employee and executive compensation programs
• employee and executive retirement programs

Please view the business entities chart for a comparison of some of the ways in which Texas sole proprietorships, general and limited partnerships, C and S corporations and limited liability companies ("LLCs") differ.

The Garrett Law Firm also assists clients in forming business trusts and registering under the laws of Delaware, another state or even another country when that is advantageous.

Financing: Even before a business opens its doors, it should begin negotiating a flexible combination of debt and equity financing. The Garrett Law Firm encourages its clients to examine the entire bundle of possibilities: vendor loans and lines of credit; factoring and equipment leases; government investment incentive grants; tax rebates; Small Business Administration loans and venture capital.

For more established companies, the Firm is experienced in negotiating single and multilender secured and unsecured loans; private placements of debt and equity in the U.S. and offshore; U.S., Euromarket, Japanese and global public offerings of common and preferred stock; warrants and trust receipts; floating rate notes, medium terms notes, debentures, convertible bonds and securitized debt.

Business financing techniques continue to evolve. Having represented lenders and underwriters as well as borrowers and issuers, Terry Garrett has a broad perspective and a lively interest in assisting clients to keep alert to new developments in various areas of the capital markets and to secure the lowest all-in funding costs with the maximum operational flexibility.

Doing Business: Companies frequently can lengthen product life cycle and increase profits by preserving intellectual property, market intelligence and employee relationships. This needs to be done while complying with government safety and other regulations and while working to foster potentially closer relationships with vendors, co-developers and distributors. Registering intellectual property (where advisable), negotiating agreements and advising on trade secrets laws and other protective measures is an important part of the Firm's responsibility to its clients. Non-disclosure and non-compete agreements, employee stock option plans, well timed bonuses and other compensation arrangements can be another important part of protecting the company's intellectual capital.

With its multilingual capabilities and decades of experience in the Pacific Rim, the Firm is particularly well positioned to assist businesses in international trade and investment, strengthening their global positions. The Garrett Law Firm has represented companies creating agencies, distributorships, branch offices, subsidiaries and joint ventures in many countries of the Pacific Rim and has relationships with lawyers in the region, stretching back over a quarter of a century.

It currently represents investors from four Pacific Rim countries with regard to United States facilities.

Buying or Selling a Business: Whether a sale or purchase, an investment, merger, joint venture or strategic alliance is contemplated, The Garrett Law Firm works with its clients to shape the transaction for maximum post-tax financial benefits. When expansion involves growing across borders, The Garrett Law Firm uses the interplay between differing legal and regulatory approaches to create new financing and tax efficiencies for its clients, helping them to diversify business functions and achieve outstanding corporate results.