William A. Kummerer

William Kummerer has been positioning privately held, middle-market businesses for long-term success for more than 35 years.

Serving as a trusted advisor, Bill has guided clients through virtually all aspects of corporate and commercial law throughout their entire business lifecycle. Business owners rely on Bill to help them manage the legal aspects of their businesses including organizational structuring, debt and equity financing, mergers and acquisitions, growth and expansion activities, complex commercial contracts, corporate governance, equity ownership agreements, succession planning, restructuring advice and dispute resolution.

Bill advises clients across a broad range of industries, including manufacturing, distribution, construction, publishing, professional services, software and technology. Often functioning as outside general counsel, he utilizes the firm's many resources to provide practical advice that secures optimal results efficiently and quickly—even in high-stress, high-stakes situations.

Having served as a director and participated in management and leadership roles for many years, Bill understands the pressures entrepreneurs face and how legal issues intersect with operational realities. He brings hands-on experience when advising clients on sensitive employment matters, including executive compensation plans, hiring, separation and severance agreements, reductions in force and succession planning. Bill's collaborative, direct, practical and calm approach combines holistic business thinking with broad legal experience, resulting in workable solutions that reflect client expectations and risk tolerances.

Experience

• Advised a German company that struggled for years to expand its manufacturing operations in the U.S. by assisting it in making a series of strategic acquisitions. The first of those transactions involved the acquisition of a business that was owned by an elderly man who distrusted lawyers and lacked modernized recordkeeping practices. Despite the many obstacles and setbacks we faced in our efforts to complete this transaction, we stuck with it for more than 18 months and finally closed the deal. Since that first acquisition, we have helped the client acquire four more businesses in the U.S., making the North American market the client's fastest-growing segment of its worldwide business.
• Represented a fledgling software company in raising capital necessary to begin building a brand new industry-specific software platform. Our representation of this particular start-up company has continued for five years throughout a period of accelerated growth, during which we helped the company to complete a series of transactions that collectively raised hundreds of millions of dollars in debt and equity financing. During the period of our relationship, the client company has hired and retained a workforce of more than 500 employees and has developed a sophisticated software platform that has attracted numerous substantial customers and investors.
• Acted for a large construction company client that was part-owned by an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) and part-owned by multiple members of the founder's family—spanning several generations. The client wanted to purchase/redeem the rest of the company's shares from the family member owners so that the company could become 100% ESOP-owned. Despite numerous structural, pricing, valuation and other fundamental challenges, our team, working under Bill's leadership, completed a transaction that satisfied all stakeholders. The company is now flourishing under its new tax-favorable and employee-friendly structure.