Halverson Northwest is built upon a foundation of representing business and commercial enterprises of the region. Our business practice has focused upon agriculture and agribusiness but includes virtually every business type and opportunity. Businesses are faced with increasingly complex transactions and business structure, employment and labor relations, government regulation and litigation. Halverson Northwest is committed to providing prompt, experienced and informed advocacy for business and commercial clients.
Halverson Northwest and our region was built on agriculture and agribusiness. We have served literally every type of agricultural and agribusiness concern, including large vertically integrated agricultural operations, orchard and farming businesses, ranches, wineries, processing facilities and their lenders and investors. Our experience includes entity formation and operation, real estate, regulatory and water issues, and agricultural litigation.
Halverson Northwest attorneys routinely provide advice and representation in the following areas:
At Halverson Northwest, our attorneys have helped employers navigate the ever-changing landscape of the federal, state, and local laws that govern the modern workplace.
Our experience spans from complex class and individual employment litigation for employers to providing advice on day-to-day employment law issues.
Our Employment and Labor attorneys provide advice and litigation representation on a variety of employment contract matters, including disputes involving trade secrets, non-competition agreements, and executive compensation. We also help companies draft and implement personnel policies and procedures that both comply with applicable law and meet the client’s business objectives.
From the board room to the courtroom, we help our clients with issues including employment counseling and litigation, employment and employee benefits litigation, single-employer and industry-wide collective bargaining, Department of Labor matters, L&I concerns, intellectual property disputes, and employee benefits matters.
Halverson Northwest Employment and Labor counseling and litigation practice includes the following:
Agricultural Employment Issues
Department of Labor & Industry Counseling and Litigation
Employment Counseling and Litigation for Employers
Labor Matters
Non-Competition, Confidentiality, and Trade Secret Law
Wage and Hour Counseling and Litigation for Employers
Workplace Safety and Health
Halverson Northwest is one of the few experienced and established firms advising agricultural cooperatives. Our attorneys have broad experience in virtually every aspect of the operation and management of agricultural cooperatives with particular focus on processors.
We provide our cooperative clients advice in the following areas:
Our commercial litigation attorneys are experienced in representing both plaintiffs and defendants in a broad range of business and commercial disputes.
Halverson Northwest has particular expertise in the following areas:
Our litigation attorneys have practiced in state and federal courts in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, California and District of Columbia. We are regularly involved in alternate dispute resolution processes, including mediations and commercial arbitrations. Our attorneys have also served as arbitrators and mediators in a variety of business and commercial disputes.
Halverson Northwest has a long history of representing banks and financial institutions. Our representation has included both large and local commercial banks, savings & loan associations, mortgage companies, private lenders, insurance companies and pension plans. We assist these institutions in transactions throughout the region with particular focus on agricultural loans.
We have gained particular experience in loan structuring and documentation, debt restructuring and workouts, foreclosures and collections, bankruptcy and litigation (lender liability, lien priority, loan disputes and interpretation, etc.)
We pride ourselves on efficient and economic representation with a keen understanding of agriculture and businesses of our region. Representation of our financial institutions and lenders also draws upon our breadth of legal experience within the firm including specialized areas such as real estate, title insurance and coverage, water rights, and environmental regulation.
Halverson Northwest provides experienced legal advice to local and regional businesses and their owners, helping clients choose the best form of entity to meet their legal needs. As an important first step, our attorneys can help new and experienced business owners devise and implement ownership and management structures that reflect the client’s business priorities.
Halverson Northwest has helped clients form, manage and operate almost all types of legal entities, including the following:
After a business is formed and a proper entity is chosen, our attorneys will continue to provide business owners and their management teams planning or advice in a variety of areas. A few of the specific areas of law and services we can provide business owners are:
Our firm has substantial experience to provide legal advice clients need when starting and operating a business in today’s complex business environment, from a single-purpose entity for a particular transaction, to the use of one of today’s more complex ownership and management structures needed to run a closely-held business for the long term.
A good business succession plan should provide for family wealth preservation and legacy planning and can help implement the owners’ chosen estate plans. We provide focused estate planning for owners of closely held businesses including family farms and other agricultural businesses. The planning usually involves managing financial resources through the strategic use of trusts, gifts, buy-sell agreements, and other income- and wealth-transfer plans. These plans implement family and charitable goals while minimizing income, gift and estate taxes. Experience is every bit as invaluable in this process as it is in the rest of business. At Halverson Northwest we have the business acumen and legal expertise to ensure that your business continues to thrive long after the reins have been transferred.
Halverson Northwest is experienced in a wide variety of creditors’ rights matters, both in bankruptcy and non-bankruptcy situations. Our attorneys have advised both public and privately held corporations (including institutional lenders), partnerships, businesses, entities and individuals on matters related to bankruptcy, collection, foreclosure, loan workouts, business restructuring and reorganization, and other debtor/creditor matters. While we do not file bankruptcy on behalf of debtors, our experience representing creditors covers the gamut of situations a creditor may encounter.
Halverson Northwest has provided representation in the following areas:
The laws governing employee benefits have grown in complexity and there has been a rise in benefit-based litigation. These trends will continue with employers facing constantly-changing, highly technical and expensive laws and obligations.
Halverson Northwest has a long history of advising employers with regard to employee benefits. We have experience in the following areas.
Halverson Northwest has advised both business and individual clients on virtually every aspect of federal, state and local taxation. We have counseled clients on a variety of sophisticated tax matters for corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, cooperatives, tax exempt organizations and individual clients. We recognize the significance of tax issues, but do so with a belief that taxes are only one of many factors in sound business planning.
Federal, state and local tax legislation rapidly change. Halverson Northwest places a high priority on monitoring proposed tax changes and implementing tax planning in the context of an integrated real estate or business transaction. Particular areas of experience include tax issues associated with real estate transactions, corporate acquisitions and reorganizations, entity formation and operation (corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies) and estate planning.
Transactional Practice: Acquisitions, Sales and Mergers
Halverson Northwest has extensive experience in tax planning for transactions including acquisitions, sales and mergers. Our attorneys provide tax planning to corporations (and other taxable entities), pass-thru entities and individuals. This planning ranges from complex corporate mergers, acquisitions, reorganizations, redemptions, recapitalizations and debt financings, to planning appropriate business structures for start-up and closely-held entities. Transactional tax planning includes issues of both federal and state tax laws. State law considerations include sales tax, use tax, business and occupation tax, property tax (including open space), and real estate excise tax.
Real Estate Taxation
The ownership, transfer and use of real estate can present many federal, state and local tax issues. Federal tax considerations include entity structure, allocation and distribution provisions, like-kind exchanges under IRC Section 1031, and property characterization and depreciation issues. Real property tax issues are significant in terms of valuation, open space (including removal from open space) and excise taxes on transfers. We work with property owners in order to address these complex issues.
State & Local Tax
State and local taxes are becoming increasingly complex and significant in business and real estate matters. Halverson Northwest is experienced in addressing issues related to sales, use, business and occupation, and property taxes. Real estate transactions are further impacted by the real estate excise tax. Our experience has included counseling and advocacy with respect to these taxes during both the planning and dispute resolution processes. Our attorneys also handle administrative and judicial appeals on state and local tax assessments and claims.
Nonprofit (Tax-Exempt) Organizations
We regularly advise tax-exempt organizations. Representation includes advice with respect to structure and operation of the ventures, real estate and asset acquisition, and tax compliance and resolution.
A significant part of our business and commercial law practice involves legal advice on how to solve the day-to-day problems faced by our clients in a complex business environment. Experienced attorneys at Halverson Northwest provide professional and timely legal advice on a variety of common business issues including negotiating and documenting contracts, avoiding legal disputes, structuring financings, addressing regulatory issues and compliance, and providing advice on matters of labor and employment.
We serve a broad client base in a significant variety of businesses – both in size and industry. Effective representation of business requires an understanding of the unique characteristics of each business and its industry. We have gained experience in the issues of our region and its businesses. Our primary focus is the client’s business objective and our role in supporting success of the business. This focused approach allows for timely response to both common and unusual or complex issues, using the multi-disciplinary resources of our firm, and helps our clients meet the all important business goal of a quick and timely resolution to the problem or issue.
Halverson Northwest has extensive experience in representation of corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and individuals in connection with the structuring, negotiation and documentation of mergers, acquisitions and other business restructurings. Merger and acquisition practice includes assessment, evaluation and implementation of state entity (corporation, limited liability company and partnership), regulation and requirements, federal and state taxation, labor and employment, and real estate considerations.
Halverson Northwest has provided services with respect to the following:
We have provided guidance to clients through all phases of a merger or acquisition transaction, from early evaluation of a transaction, through due diligence, negotiation, documentation and closing. Transactions typically include preparation of letters of intent, confidentiality, standstill and similar agreements; acquisition and merger agreements (with associated documents); financing and security documents; closing statements and documents; and legal opinions. We have provided advice on tax, corporate governance, employment, employee benefits, real estate, environmental, financing and other aspects of transactions.
Tax-exempt organizations are under increasing pressure, not only to fill their missions, but to address and navigate complex and ever-changing laws and regulations. Organizational challenges also include matters faced by all business operations including employment and labor issues, business financing and structure, real estate acquisition and ownership, and contract negotiation and documentation. Successful organizations demonstrate transparency, good governance practices and stewardship.
Halverson Northwest has a long history of representation of tax-exempt organizations. Our attorneys provide a unified, full continuum of services. We assist organizations with advice regarding entity structure and operation, corporate governance, executive compensation, mergers and restructurings, joint ventures, employment and labor, and all transactional matters.