Businesses operate in a world of tremendous complexity and must confront the challenges of globalization, technological change, economic upheaval, and limited available capital. But with challenge comes opportunity. A balance sheet with significant cash provides leverage. Altered regulations upend old hierarchies. Technological change and global competition open new markets and drive innovation. Successful companies do not endure despite hardships — they learn to grow because of them. In that endeavor, clients need attorneys who are both aggressive and forward-thinking.
Cozen O’Connor has been providing sophisticated counsel to a diverse set of businesses and entrepreneurs for more than forty years. We advise individuals, family businesses, public and private companies, government entities, corporate boards and committees, directors and officers, investors and investment funds, nonprofits, and trade associations in a wide range of industries. Our corporate experience includes regulatory compliance, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, tax, securities, finance, bankruptcy, and health law.
A truly outstanding corporate attorney must be a trusted advisor and an aggressive dealmaker. The members of Cozen O’Connor’s corporate department understand this dual responsibility better than most and have the requisite skills to excel in both roles.
As advisors, we provide highly individualized counsel on a full range of corporate matters. Our priority is to develop a thorough knowledge of each client’s business, the marketplace in which a client competes, and a client’s long-term goals. With an understanding of a client’s operations, we are then able to craft tailored approaches that satisfy a client’s immediate tactical needs and further the overall mission. Having a clear sense of the core business also facilitates more candid and effective communication. We do not tell our clients what they want to hear — we tell them what they need to know.
As dealmakers, we represent clients in their most important corporate negotiations. Whether trying to finance development, license technology, acquire a competitor, or restructure debt, our legal advice is based on incisive analysis of the needs and goals of partners, targets, and adversaries. Dealmaking is not a zero-sum game, but an attempt to reach a mutually beneficial agreement as quickly as possible. This requires respect for other parties, skillful negotiation, and an instinctive understanding of when to take and when to give. Adversaries may indulge in outbursts or false machismo, but bluster is no substitute for artful persuasion. We make sure that even the toughest negotiations remain productive and collegial.
Cozen O’Connor has long been known as an entrepreneurial firm, one that attracts lawyers with a competitive zeal and willingness to break new ground. Indeed, the attorneys in our corporate department are recognized as among the most creative and tenacious corporate practitioners in the country. This is useful because the path from point A to point B is rarely a straight line. Instead of getting mired in the details of why a particular approach is unworkable, we simply find another way. That personal commitment to reaching the goal is what differentiates Cozen O’Connor attorneys. We are not spectators. We are closers.
SERVICES
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Bankruptcy
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Corporate Governance and Compliance
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Emerging Business & Venture Capital
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Health Law
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Mergers & Acquisitions
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Private Client Services
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Public & Project Finance
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Securities
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Tax
CLIENTS
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Individuals
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Closely held businesses
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Public and private companies
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Investors and investment funds
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Startups
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Corporate boards and committees
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Directors and officers
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Nonprofits and trade associations
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Governmental entities
TEAM
Cozen O’Connor’s corporate department includes some of the nation’s leading practitioners in their fields of specialization. They are members of prestigious invitation-only professional organizations, chairs of state and federal bar association sections, and nationally ranked by Chambers and Partners. In many cases, our attorneys not only have decades of experience as top counsel, they also have direct corporate or governmental experience. The department includes former executives and directors of major corporate and nonprofit organizations, general and in-house counsel to multinational companies, and former senior officers in key governmental bodies. Our attorneys are thought leaders in their respective fields and regularly teach, publish, and lecture.
This department serves a broad range of companies from family-owned to Fortune 500. We have a particularly impressive track record serving so-called “middle-market” firms, businesses that gross between $50 million and $1 billion in annual revenue. The middle market is growing faster, producing more jobs, and attracting more capital than any other segment of the U.S. economy. As a result, middle-market companies deserve top corporate lawyers who understand their potential, are attuned to their specific needs and challenges, and are willing to make a long-term commitment to their growth.