Spizzirri Law Offices Company Limited

A Different Approach to Business Law in Atlanta, GA

Proactive attorney prevents litigation and saves you time and expense

For too long, business law firms have failed to serve their clients' best interests, because they have been reactive rather than proactive. It's not entirely their fault; lawyers are trained to fix problems once they've happened, not necessarily to prevent them. Law firms also make the lion's share of their legal fees by getting their clients out of trouble through expensive litigation, when it could have cost up to 90 percent less to avoid the problem at the outset. Unfortunately, many business law firms have an incentive to allow their clients to get into avoidable disputes so they can reap the rewards for winning in court. My firm, Spizzirri Law Offices Company Limited, has represented businesses for more than 20 years, and my focus and dedication has been to prevent litigation wherever possible, to my clients' benefit.

Accomplished attorney delivers value by putting business clients first

It's an all-too-common scenario: A company has a $20 million contract with a subcontractor, and a dispute arises over a $500,000 item in their agreement. Attorneys for the company litigate the dispute, to the tune of $1.5 million in legal fees and then pat themselves on the back when they win the case. Yes, they've won (pending appeal), but have they delivered value for the client? Did work stop on that lucrative contract while the matter was litigated? Are relations now strained between the company and a vital partner in future projects?

My approach to business law comes down to one word: value. My job is to prevent the type of scenario described above, not to profit from it. A reactive lawyer cannot deliver value, because he's always one step behind the problem. To deliver value to a client, I get out ahead of issues and keep them from becoming subjects of litigation. In the example above, rather than enforcing the contract, the company could have revisited it, reformed the language to reflect the realities of the business relationship, and saved time and expense in the process.

An ounce of due diligence is worth a ton of litigation

If the goal is to deliver value, the process must change. When a company engages my services as general counsel, I perform due diligence from top to bottom, identifying areas of potential concern and areas for growth. I help my clients secure intellectual property so they can later monetize those assets. I also improve their trade secret protection so that they can maintain their competitive advantage and not be forced to litigate violations later on. So, I create value two ways: by slashing my clients' legal bills and strengthening the assets they hold. Here are examples of successful turnarounds:

Counsel to a publicly traded, multinational environmental waste disposal concern and its affiliates in formulating the structured disposition of financially troubled business lines, formulating a vehicle to facilitate the company's emergence from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, and continued post-acquisition implementation of planning solutions to lower the company's effective tax rate.

Advised on the application and interpretation of the UCC provision concerning sales, negotiable instruments, bank deposits, letters of credit, bulk sales, documents of title, investment securities, and secured transactions.

Represented several multi-billion dollar private equity funds in all aspects of mergers, acquisitions, integration and divestitures.

Supervised all aspects of tax-free reorganizations of partnerships and corporations under 26 USC 368(a)(1)(A), (B), (C), (D), (E), (F), and (G), including subsidiary mergers, within the US and between US companies and affiliates of foreign entities; both inbound and outbound.

Counseled a publically traded multinational airport security and facility services concern in connection with a successful spin-off of certain service lines allowing each separate company to pursue its own strategic mission.

Counseled a foreign business in its multibillion-dollar investment in the wireless division of a multinational telecommunications company and in the subsequent spin-off of that division.

Other members of the legal profession question my methods, asking "Why are you slashing your clients' legal fees?" My answer is simple: "To create value!" Money my clients don't spend on business litigation goes toward growth. I'd much rather bill my client for a profit-producing IPO, merger or acquisition than for resource-draining litigation.

The proactive approach also changes the dynamic between lawyer and client. The reactive lawyer makes money while his client loses, but the proactive lawyer makes money while helping his client make more of it. That positions me as a strategic partner in your success, which is exactly where I want to be.