William M. Ellard

Bill’s business-law experience includes: Advising clients regarding choice of entity. Organizing corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, joint ventures, and private equity funds. Private offerings of equity interests. Agreements among the business owners. Management agreements. Compensation arrangements, including profits interests, incentive stock, and phantom stock. Acquisitions, dispositions, and reorganizations of businesses, including transfers of assets or equity interests for cash, notes, or earnout arrangements, mergers, acquisitions for stock, and spinoffs. Ancillary arrangements, including confidentiality agreements, no-shop agreements, contracts with brokers, and employment, severance, and non-competition arrangements with key executives. Tax planning in connection with transactions.

Other commercial transactions with which Bill has experience include purchase and sale of goods, sales representation arrangements, consignment arrangements, distributorships, licenses, supply arrangements, registration of trademarks, representing borrowers and lenders in connection with financing transactions and representing clients in buying, selling, financing, leasing, and managing equipment, particularly railroad cars and intermodal transportation equipment (chassis, trailers, and containers).

Bill has extensive experience in wealth transfer planning, including wills, trusts, private foundations, planning for retirement benefits, disclaimers, powers of appointment, powers of attorney, health care directives, planning for succession of ownership of family-owned businesses, arrangements for family ownership of assets (including family limited partnerships and LLCs), and planning for tax-efficient gifts.