The Technology, Entreprenurial & Commercial Practice brings together lawyers from around the firm and from many areas of the law to offer businesses, their shareholders, directors and officers a broad base of services. Our lawyers in this group focus in the areas of entrepreneurial, information technology, outsourcing and commercial law, always recognizing the importance of quickly providing legal solutions that are both business-oriented and creative.

Entrepreneurial Practice

Many of the firm’s business clients are privately or closely held entities with management and ownership issues distinct from the multi-national public companies the firm also represents. Members of the Entrepreneurial, Technology & Commercial Practice know business owners expect their counsel to be both knowledgeable about the client’s business and sensitive to providing immediate and effective solutions to their legal needs.  Services we regularly provide include:

• Business organization
• Capital formation
• Shareholder agreements
• Contracts
• Real estate
• Regulatory compliance
• Dispute avoidance and resolution
• Business sales/acquisitions
• Tax advice
• Management succession
• Personal estate planning

Because Bryan Cave’s worldwide offices are linked by technology and a practical “One Firm” way of practicing law, clients also can draw on our full-service network of lawyers in a variety of fields vital to privately held businesses, including finance, tax, employee benefits, environmental law, computer and technology law, intellectual property, international sales and marketing, employment and labor relations counseling, alternative dispute resolution, litigation, real estate and estate planning.

Members of the group provide counseling and documentation relating to business relationships with all types of suppliers, distributors and direct customers. Areas frequently handled include:

• Confidentiality agreements
• Sales agreements
• Manufacturing and supply agreements
• Technology licenses
• Purchase agreements (for both products and services)
• Consulting agreements
• Manufacturers representative/sales agent/dealer agreements
• Distributor and consignment agreements
• Franchise documents
• Equipment leases

Information Technology Practice

Bryan Cave’s Information Technology Practice Group has a deep roster of skilled attorneys equipped to provide a rapid, thorough and skilled response to any client need arising across the spectrum of commercial technology contracts and ventures. Located in offices across the globe and serving a variety of clients, we tap into a wealth of prior experience to understand and appreciate the business climates our clients face.

Bryan Cave’s Information Technology Practice Group handles all types of technology agreements for clients in virtually every industry. We understand the laws and technologies underlying technology transactions but more importantly, we understand what our clients do. Bryan Cave’s integrated offices also afford clients the benefit of the entire firm’s experience wherever the client may reside, focused by the experience and industry specialization of the Information Technology Team.

Outsourcing Practice

As pressures continue to mount on organizations to minimize costs, improve efficiencies, and enhance their competitive advantage, outsourcing non-core, yet vital business processes to third-party vendors becomes increasingly essential. Achieving the right synergy between parties is crucial and requires the assistance of seasoned counsel with both an understanding of the legal issues as well as the industries of the parties involved. Bryan Cave’s Outsourcing Practice includes a deep roster of skilled attorneys with substantial industry experience, equipped to provide a rapid, thorough response to clients’ needs arising across the entire spectrum of outsourcing transactions.

The firm’s approach is to treat outsourcing contracts as long-term business ventures between customer and vendor -- with risks and rewards properly aligned to ensure a successful outcome.  In delivering comprehensive legal solutions to clients, the outsourcing attorneys draw upon expertise from a wide range of Bryan Cave’s client service groups, including attorneys in corporate and transactional matters, intellectual property, labor and employment, international law, tax,  employment and labor relations counseling, real estate, employee benefits, environmental law and others. This collaborative approach enables Bryan Cave to deliver practical and value-added counsel at every stage of an outsourcing transaction.

Commercial Practice

As organizations around the world strive to streamline their processes while managing their bottom lines, Bryan Cave’s Commercial Practice is increasingly becoming the choice for those looking to achieve efficiencies while improving service quality, leveraging resources and maximizing time.  

Our Commercial Practice attorneys provide fast, practical, value-added counsel to clients in the preparation and negotiation of many traditional commercial agreements. Examples include:

• Terms and conditions of sale
• Distributorship and representative arrangements
• Consulting and other services contracts
• Confidentiality and decontamination agreements
• Licensing arrangements and other similar matters

The practice group also has expertise in records management and retention programs.

Our Commercial Practice has more than 40 members in offices around the world. That means Bryan Cave can provide the right people in the right place with the appropriate resources to efficiently address the many types of transaction agreements key to the conduct of an organization’s day-to-day business. Our flexible approach has proven effective for both clients with in-house corporate counsel and clients without internal legal staff.

Bryan Cave continues to seek innovative solutions to our client’s business issues. Our Commercial Practice is a unique and powerful business tool that takes much of the administrative burden of transaction agreements off of our clients. The result is an approach that provides prompt, economical and sound legal counsel to clients.