Owner Agreements

Your ownership agreement plays a huge part in many aspects of managing your firm and how things work. Your ownership agreement will be instrumental in creating a path to how governance/voting works in your firm. It should also address profit sharing, other aspects of compensation, buying out partners and admitting new ones. It needs to also address how capital works, treating temporary disability, full disability and death of a partner.

Does your firm have a mandatory retirement age? What are the benefits and drawbacks of having one and what is the "right" age if you do want one? Does your firm have a cap on a maximum percentage of your gross revenues that can be paid out to retiring partners in any one year to protect a steep unforeseen drop in revenue?

Transition Advisors will work with your firm in creating an agreement that not only works well for current partners but is such a good draft it actually can be a tool for recruiting future partners! A strong ownership agreement's terms must be worked out and then properly memorialized in a document.

We can share the benchmarks and newer methods of valuing equity, including but not limited to tax treatment of the buyouts, notifications requirements and vesting, as well as determining how to pay retired partners for compensation systems, having non-equity partners and so much more.

We invite you to read some of our articles to gain a better understanding of our philosophies - or, better yet, set up a free, non-obligatory, confidential call with our team of experts to discuss your situation.