Business and Finance

At Caplan and Earnest, our lawyers are committed to knowing their clients and gaining a full understanding of client legal needs and objectives. From start-up to wind-up and in between, our business and finance team has the experience to ensure your business gets excellent legal advice for every situation. We represent large and small corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, limited partnerships, joint ventures, and individuals throughout Colorado, and the Rocky Mountain Region.

Corporate and Transactions - Our corporate attorneys offer comprehensive, cost-effective legal services on a wide variety of substantive areas, such as:

• Business entity structure, formation and reorganizations; including limited liability companies (LLC's), limited liability partnerships (LLP's), limited liability limited partnerships (LLLP's), corporations, and other entities.
  
  
• Transaction structuring, negotiation and preparation of documentation for any business objective including leases, consulting agreements, purchase and sales agreements, license agreements, and financing;
   
• Succession and compensation planning for businesses;
   
• Estate planning services for executives; and
   
• Tax planning and counseling—federal, state and local.
   
• Nonprofit formation and governance. 

Commercial and Banking – Caplan and Earnest's attorneys have many years of experience working on lending and commercial transactions. The work we do includes:

• Representation of borrowers, banks, financial institutions, and lenders in a variety of lending transactions;
  
  
• Equipment leases/lease purchase arrangements;
  
  
• Debtor/creditor issues and foreclosures; and
  
  
• UCC issues.

Real Estate - Our innovative yet practical real estate specialists provide advice regarding commercial real estate matters, from simple to complex, including:

• Negotiation and documentation of real estate purchases and sales;
  
  
• Real estate loan documentation;
   
• Real estate development and land use;
  
• Commercial leasing; and
   
• Negotiation and preparation of construction documents for projects of all sizes.

Intellectual Property Protection – Our attorneys are knowledgeable in ways to protect the IP assets of your business: 

• Trademark and service mark registration;
   
• Copyright and trade secret protection;
   
• Preparation and enforcement of confidentiality, non-compete, and non-solicitation agreements; and
   
• Preparation and protection of software licenses.

Employment - Caplan and Earnest's employment lawyers have earned a reputation as leaders among the defense-oriented employment law firms. Employer clients receive:

• Employee relations counseling including advice on dealing with discipline and termination of difficult employees or general reductions in force;
   
• Preparation of employee handbooks, anti-discrimination and other workplace policies;
   
• Negotiation and drafting of executive compensation and severance agreements; and
   
• Employment discrimination avoidance and defense.

Litigation – In today's business climate, lawsuits have become commonplace. Caplan and Earnest's lawyers will work with you to minimize the risks of litigation. When a dispute is unavoidable, our successful and experienced trial team is ready to stand with you in arbitration, mediation, or in a state or federal court case including:

• Commercial and contract disputes;
  
  
• Employee wrongful discharge, retaliation and harassment claims;
   
• Enforcement of non-compete and non-solicitation agreements; and
   
• Protection of trade secrets and intellectual property.