The road to independence can be exhilarating enough without unnecessary risk. We help start-ups and breakaway brokers confidently navigate a host of complex issues, from business and commercial to employment transition to securities regulations. We allow them to focus on what matters most – building a successful business aligned with their vision and values; so they are left to tend to their client relationships and managing assets.

Employment Transitions

• Exit Strategies
• Employment Contracts
• Restrictive Covenants
• TROs and Injunctions

Corporate Counsel

• Entity Formation, Organization, and Structuring
• Governance
• Contractual Relations
• Employment Relations
• Succession Planning and Transition Strategies

Business Transactions

• Business Combinations and Reorganizations
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Financing
• Real Estate

Intellectual Property

• Trademark Registration
• Trademark Monitoring
• Dispute Resolution

Investment Advisor Regulation and Compliance

• Registration and Regulatory Filings
• Client Agreements
• ERISA and Fiduciary Responsibilities
• Service Provider Contracts
• Policies and Procedures
• Regulatory Examinations

Growing and maturing advisors face unique challenges. They have small business considerations such as contracts, employment issues, and risk management, but they are immersed in a highly-regulated environment with shifting business, regulatory compliance and legal challenges. Add to that entity lifecycle matters such as continuity and succession and our role as our clients’ most trusted advisor becomes an obvious one. We help our clients navigate those arduous and time-consuming legal issues, so they can focus on growing a profitable business.

Whether starting a new venture, managing an established firm, or exploring the acquisition or sale of your business, we provide driven entrepreneurs with the business insight and legal counsel essential to advancing their business interests. Simply put, we’re attorneys who think like business owners – adept and experienced strategists, negotiators, and dealmakers whose comprehensive guidance takes into account the benefits, risks and business impact of every transaction.

The world that lies beyond a wirehouse is not flat. Employees of brokerage firms, banks, and trust companies need guidance when planning a transition to another firm or independence. In short, we help these securities personnel envision, plan, and implement a successful transition. Many know us as legal counsel to some of the most highly visible transitions in the securities industry. But we are even more proud of our role in the transitions you have never heard of.

The Hamburger Law Firm represents all types of private funds, including hedge funds, real estate funds, private equity funds, and venture funds. From concept to formation, we work closely with fund managers to determine the optimal structure and develop tailored offering documents to meet their needs. And once a fund is open, we remain available to address their ongoing concerns.

In addition, because of our experience in representing funds, we work with investment advisers seeking investment of client assets in funds with due diligence on the offering documents of potential investments.

• Formation, Organization, and Structuring
• Compliance
• Dissolution / Wind-Up
• Service Provider Agreements
• Coordination

When some of the securities industry’s most prolific firms need collaboration with in-house counsel or assistance with legal project management, or when investment advisers need to augment the capabilities of their trusted local counsel, we respond to the call. We have represented some of the nation’s leading financial institutions – from independent investment advisers and broker-dealers to RIA custodians to family offices – with some of their most challenging legal issues.