The Law Office of John K. Friedman, PLLC

We specialize in working with entrepreneurs and businesses seeking to fund their business plans, as well as investors looking for opportunities in our clients' niches.  We bring nearly 20 years' of private placement experience to bear on assigned projects whether we represent the investor or the issuer.  Specifically, we can provide any and all of the following services:

• Business plan assistance -- we DO NOT write business plans!  Only the entrepreneur or management can adequately convey the depth of knowledge and desire associated with successful plan execution to prospective investors.  WE DO help our clients think about their ideas in a broader context to better understand how their plan will fit into the economic ecosystem and how it will likely be interpreted by potential investors.

• Financial modeling -- we have a strong foundation in financial model building.  We can tailor a model to a particular plan's needs in terms of flexibility and stressability. 

• Private placement memoranda -- we lead the investor document creation process to ensure compliance with all applicable federal and state securities laws.

• Due diligence -- for issuers, we help them manage the due diligence process to ensure potential investors receive what they need to analyze the offering without compromising our client's privacy and trade secrets; for investors we often lead the legal due diligence process to identify any regulatory or other legal risks associated with a particular deal.

• Closing & post-closing management -- from handling escrowed investor funds, to disbursements, to certificate preparation and provision and transfer ledger maintenance, we can handle all of your closing and post-closing needs to free you and your team  for plan execution.

In the past year, we have helped our clients raise over $5 million in private equity for a variety of projects, including:

• $700,000 for a new retail location;
  
• $1.65 million for a new farm and new liquid milk processing plant;
• $120,000 to help a speciality food processor expand by adding a new, larger kettle;
• $500,000 to finance a farmer's purchase of the land he leased for his farm -- now he and his family own the land they work;
• $250,000 for development rights on a family farm (rights sold to a land trust which extinguished the development rights ensuring that the land will be farmed for generations to come); and
• $400,000 second-round financing for a family-owned specialty food retailer.
  

For a list of some of our current and recent clients/assignments, click here.



We work with clients to help them manage the routine and non-routine transactions they encounter.  From simple commercial leases to complicated M&A and asset purchases, we have the experience and skills required to lead clients to successful outcomes, protecting their assets throughout.  Representative recent transactions include:

• A co-packing agreement between an organic yogurt creamery and an all-natural cosmetics manufacturer;
• A processing agreement between a dairy farm and a liquid milk processing company for custom processing and bottling;
• A retail lease in New York City for an expanding nationally-known natural meat company;
• Selling development rights on several farms to 2 land trusts;
• Sale of the equity in a privately-held specialty food processor to a a new owner;
• Managed formation and organization of multiple member-owned food cooperatives;
• The purchase of a particular consumer telecoms line of business from a multinational seller;
• The purchase of an undersea fiber optic network;
• Licensing-out software systems on behalf of the owners of the rights to various companies, including Fortune 500 and 1000 companies as well as many smaller entities;
• Licensing-in all manner of custom software on behalf of several large companies; and
• Registering and protecting trademarks and copyrights both domestic and international.

 For a list of some of our current and recent clients/assignments, click here.

Besides our core services, above, we also like to help our neighbors in New York's Hudson Valley and surrounding areas with some of their business representation needs.  Throughout this geography, we eagerly help our neighbors with their business and real estate leases, liquor licensing issues, Department of Health and Department of Ag and Markets issues, as well as those at the federal level, among others. 

For a list of some of our current and recent clients/assignments, click here.