Chicago Business Law Attorney
Business law from a former CLO.

Business law is billed hourly or on fixed-fee scopes agreed before work begins. Fixed-fee scopes include entity formation (LLC or corporation), standard contract review, NDA drafting, and operating agreement preparation. Hourly billing applies to M&A, due diligence, regulatory matters, and complex transactions. A monthly retainer option is available for businesses with recurring legal needs — see the General Counsel Services page.

The answer depends on your industry, expected revenue, ownership structure, exit strategy, and how you want to be taxed. An LLC with pass-through election is simpler and more flexible. An S-Corp election can produce payroll tax savings above certain income thresholds but creates administrative overhead. Adam does not recommend one over the other without understanding your specific situation. The triage call is the right starting point.

For a business acquisition, Adam handles LOI review and negotiation, due diligence coordination, asset or stock purchase agreement drafting and negotiation, representations and warranties review, non-compete analysis, SBA loan documentation review, and transition service agreement structuring. He has represented buyers and sellers in Illinois business transactions across industries and deal sizes, from main-street businesses to multi-million dollar acquisitions.

Vendor agreements, service contracts, SaaS subscription agreements, licensing agreements, supply chain contracts, employment agreements, independent contractor agreements, NDAs, non-solicitation agreements, partnership agreements, joint venture agreements, and commercial leases. For businesses with recurring contract volume, a monthly General Counsel retainer is more cost-effective than transaction-by-transaction billing.

Adam handles pre-litigation business disputes — demand letters, breach of contract claims, partner disputes, and collections — with a bias toward resolution that avoids the cost of full litigation. For matters requiring court proceedings, he refers to trusted litigation counsel while staying engaged as transactional counsel. Most business disputes that reach his desk resolve before a lawsuit is filed.

Business formation immediately triggers estate planning questions — who owns the business interest at death, how it is valued, whether a buy-sell agreement exists. Commercial real estate used by the business raises entity-ownership and title questions. AI governance obligations attach the moment a business deploys an AI tool in hiring or operations. For family-owned businesses, these questions multiply — ownership, succession, family employment, and estate planning all sit on top of each other. Adam handles all of them as one integrated practice through Family-Owned Business Counsel. Adam connects these dots across practices without the client having to identify the intersection.