REPRESENTATION OF SELLER OF BUSINESSES AND REAL ESTATE IN A COMPLEX BUSINESS TRANSACTION GONE AWRY

Our business, real estate, collections and litigation experience all came together to represent a Jackson, Michigan businessman when a complex transaction went bad. He had successfully built up an automotive business over the years, and decided to retire and sell the operating companies and accompanying real estate in a complex, multi-million dollar deal, which was handled by another lawyer. When the buyer defaulted a few years later, the seller was referred to us by the transaction attorney because of a conflict of interest. Led by attorney Brad A. Brelinski, we studied the transaction documents, determined the extent of all the defaults, and came up with a plan with our client to protect his valuable interests while facing multiple threats from the buyer. We strategically initiated four lawsuits in court and, facing the imminent closure of the businesses, forced the defaulting buyer to come up with the significant funds to cure the breaches and sign a settlement agreement which protected our client moving forward.

Not long after, the buyer again defaulted, only this time it appeared all of his creditors were coming after him. Realizing that a settlement would be unlikely, we moved swiftly and filed five lawsuits in Jackson County District and Circuit Courts to enforce the leases and security agreements. The buyer did not dispute the actions this time and closed the businesses, giving back the property and collateral to the seller.