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Business Succession

Business Services

Walter Haverfield’s nationally prominent business succession attorneys have vast experience advising entrepreneurial closely held and family businesses on succession planning. We assist our clients with practical advice in implementing their goals, including survival of the business through multiple generations of ownership and management, and tax services to effectively maintain and create liquidity.

Practice Group Leader

T. Ted Motheral, Chair

Ted focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, as well as private debt and equity financing.

216.928.2967
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Our Business Succession Difference

The myriad of related-party rules embedded in the Internal Revenue Code make it imperative that family businesses not only use attorneys who are skilled in business succession planning, but who also have experience in multiple disciplines. With our collective firm-wide insight, we proactively position our closely held and family business clients ahead of challenges, in addition to providing in-house accounting professional services.

As local and national speakers for numerous professional organizations, our dedicated counsel is known for:

  • Estate planning
  • Trusts and estates
  • Federal income taxation
  • Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and non-qualified deferred compensation, particularly as it relates to middle market entrepreneurial clients

Nationally published highlights from our attorneys include:

  • Authoring the chapter on Section 83 for the LexisNexis online tax library
  • Authoring two legal treatises on tax and financial planning for the closely held family business
  • Writing numerous feature articles in major publications on related business succession matters

Recognition

Our business attorneys in our Cleveland and Columbus offices are consistently ranked and recognized by Best Lawyers®, Super Lawyers, Martindale-Hubbell, and more. At Walter Haverfield, we pride ourselves on becoming each client’s trusted corporate advisor for all their business needs.

U.S. NEWS – BEST LAWYERS® 2023 “BEST LAW FIRMS” RANKINGS

  • Metropolitan Tier 1: Banking and Finance Law
  • Metropolitan Tier 1: Commercial Litigation
  • Metropolitan Tier 1: Litigation – Labor and Employment
  • Metropolitan Tier 1: Litigation – Real Estate
  • Metropolitan Tier 1: Litigation – Trust & Estates
  • Metropolitan Tier 1: Real Estate Law
  • Metropolitan Tier 1: Tax Law
  • Metropolitan Tier 2: Construction Law
  • Metropolitan Tier 2: Criminal Defense: White-Collar
  • Metropolitan Tier 2: Litigation – Environmental
  • Metropolitan Tier 2: Mergers and Acquisitions Law
  • Metropolitan Tier 3: Bet-the-Company Litigation
  • Metropolitan Tier 3: Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
  • Metropolitan Tier 3: Litigation – Construction
  • Metropolitan Tier 3: Litigation – ERISA

U.S. NEWS – BEST LAWYERS® 2022 “BEST LAW FIRMS” RANKINGS

  • Metropolitan Tier 1: Litigation – Real Estate
  • Metropolitan Tier 1: Real Estate Law
  • Metropolitan Tier 2: Banking and Finance Law
  • Metropolitan Tier 2: Bet-the-Company Litigation
  • Metropolitan Tier 2: Litigation – Labor & Employment
  • Metropolitan Tier 2: Litigation – Trusts and Estates
  • Metropolitan Tier 2: Tax Law
  • Metropolitan Tier 2 Trusts & Estates law
  • Metropolitan Tier 3: Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
  • Metropolitan Tier 3: Litigation – ERISA
  • Metropolitan Tier 3: Litigation – Insurance