Legal Services and Practice Areas

Business & Corporate

As corporate counsel to our clients, we are first and foremost counselors at law. We advise our clients on legal and business issues associated with starting, financing, operating, growing, buying and selling businesses. Next, we help our clients complete business transactions by negotiating transaction terms with other parties; preparing and reviewing transaction documents and contracts; administering transactions through closing; recording documents with appropriate government agencies and maintaining client files. In all of our business work, we help clients identify and manage risks and liabilities.

Corporate and Securities. Our corporate and securities services include advice and assistance with choice of entity and corporate formation; reorganizations; private placement, investor, debt and venture capital financing; shareholder agreements and corporate governance; business continuation and succession planning; and mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic alliances.

Business Transactions. The range of business transactions we work on is too broad for a comprehensive list. At the most basic level, we advise our clients on the terms and structure of business contracts with customers, suppliers, business partners and employees.  Then, we negotiate transaction terms with other parties. Finally, we prepare and review contracts to close deals.

Technology Transactions. Even the most traditional, well-established businesses are part of the technology economy. And even as a small law firm, we have a considerable amount of experience with complicated technology transactions, including intellectual property licensing, university and institutional technology transfer, website and technology development, application hosting, electronic commerce and data center transactions. We also assist clients with issues related to domain names, trademarks, copyright, trade secrets, confidentiality and non-disclosure, and privacy, terms of service and acceptable use policies.

Commercial Real Estate. The real estate economy in the Charlotte region has been a powerful business force for the past twenty to thirty years. We represent buyers, sellers, developers, builders, investors, landlords and tenants in acquisition, financing, development, building, sales and leasing transactions. Because the business of real estate is so multi-faceted, we routinely bring our corporate, finance and business skills and experience to bear on real estate transactions.

Litigation & Disputes

In a perfect world, business deals would always work out to everybody's benefit, and shareholders and partners would never split up. But the world is not perfect, and business interactions are subject to misunderstandings, variables and unanticipated conditions that lead to disputes. We believe our clients' interests are best served by working with a lawyer who actually tries cases in court, a lawyer who has experienced the factual and legal contest in front of a judge and jury. A seasoned trial lawyer's judgment and advice can be indispensable assets in a dispute, whether it is a bet the company brawl or a routine dispute.

Lockhart Hornby provides litigation services to our business clients as both plaintiffs and defendants. Our attorneys understand that much of what we do is to help our clients solve their business problems through dispute management. Consequently, we bring a results oriented approach to the zealous representation of our clients, while constantly strategizing and evaluating cost effective solutions that meet our clients' goals.

Negotiated Settlements. The overwhelming majority of disputes are settled out of court. Often, relevant experience, a cool head, sound judgment and an assertive disposition can lead to a cost-effective settlement. Whether a dispute leads to a trial or settles easily, the starting point is to make clear demands on the opposing party and to negotiate vigorously from that point forward.

Mediation and Arbitration. As court caseloads have grown, state and federal governments have established mandatory mediation rules. And as the cost of litigation has increased, companies often prefer to settle their disputes through mediation and arbitration. These "alternative dispute resolutions" have grown in popularity not just because they cost less, but because they are often effective means of resolving an otherwise intractable disagreement.

Trials. Some disputes simply cannot be settled before the jury delivers its verdict. Sometimes the claims of both parties are too strongly held to be mediated. And there are times when the stakes are too high for anything but the most definitive resolution. It would be inaccurate to say that we prefer trials to other means of resolving a dispute, but our experience has taught us that the trial process and outcome will bring certainty and closure - and we are prepared to represent our clients before the judge and jury if that is what it takes to bring an end to an argument.