Family-Owned Companies
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The dynamic of multi-generational ownership of businesses is complex. Alicia has worked with some family businesses for more than 15 years helping transition leadership from fathers to daughters, fathers to sons, parents to children, and sisters to brothers. Not all businesses are well-suited to generational transfer. And most are not well-suited to transfer to a group of siblings. Alicia is experienced in reading family dynamics, interpreting the “subtext” in communications, listening carefully, and asking good questions about everyone’s goals. She can lead multi-disciplinary teams of estate planning, financial advisory, and outsourced management professionals to help families discern the right path for succession and then to implement the plans successfully.
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Alicia’s work with Family-Owned Companies is a subset of her work as Outsourced General Counsel. She helps clients begin with the end in mind on legal housekeeping, growth through capital raises, growth through acquisitions, and the fundamentals of solid operations. Whether a Family-Owned Company intends to sell to a third-party or hand over the reins to the next generation, good business leadership understand that taking care of the day-to-day legal issues is part of good stewardship and is a value-add activity for growing businesses.
Advanced Piping Products
Alicia helped me and my husband Matt navigate the complex family dynamics and challenging economics around buying my father’s legacy pipe support business from the family trust after he passed away. Matt and I were rooky entrepreneurs who were enthusiastic but over our heads in understanding entity structures, tax implications and how to navigate the transaction. Alicia helped us with tax and negotiations, employee policies and employee issues, clients and controversies. We had no idea what kind of legacy issues would confront us when we took on this project. But more than 10 years later, we have built on my father's legacy, have re-defined our leadership roles in the company, and built a business to be proud of. We call on Alicia for all of our legal issues and consider her to be an important trusted advisor on our team.
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- Carrie Reese
CEO
South Post Oak
Recycling Center
Alicia worked with me and my parents to structure a generational transition that respected the past and empowered the future. She listened carefully to the wholistic goals of the family - including my parents' need for a secure retirement and my need for the freedom to grow. She explained complex tax concepts clearly, used pictures and examples skillfully, and helped us all get comfortable with the game plan. As a bonus, Alicia has strong connections in the M/WBE business communities and makes key introductions for the business and is a great role model in women-owned leadership.
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- Brandi Harleaux
President
Frenchy's Creole
Restaurant Group
Alicia worked with us, our son, and various other key players to analyze our tax, risk management, asset segregation, and growth plans and propose changes to make generational change and management easier. She listened carefully to various inside and outside stakeholders and helped us listen to each other more clearly. Her proposed plans were well-founded in solid and sophisticated tax and corporate planning and took into account multi-disciplinary goals related to financial planning and retirement. She works well with a team, and she teaches complex concepts clearly. We would recommend that other family-owned companies and M/WBE businesses call Alicia to help with both strategic and day-to-day business law needs.
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- Percy “King” Creuzot
Owner