Focus Area
Family Owned & Closely Held Businesses
Owners of family businesses and closely held enterprises must navigate a complex mix of business goals, personal relationships, and long-term legacy. Our team helps clients manage governance, succession, and strategic growth with advice that blends legal, financial, and interpersonal insight—ensuring stability and preserving value across generations.
We guide clients through leadership transitions, ownership structuring, financing, and other pivotal moments that shape the trajectory of both the business and the family. Our work includes buyout agreements, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property protection, and tax-efficient succession planning. Clients span industries such as manufacturing, distribution, retail, restaurant, hospitality, professional services, technology, education, healthcare, construction, and real estate development and management.
We draw on the capabilities of our corporate, tax, trust and estate, real estate, litigation, and employment teams and work alongside accountants, investment professionals, and family business consultants to address complex challenges and deliver cohesive, long-term strategies.
Many of our lawyers have backgrounds in accounting, finance, product development, and senior corporate management, offering insight into operational realities and competitive pressures. This depth of experience, combined with a commitment to practical, forward-looking counsel, has earned the trust of family businesses for generations.
Expertise
Key Contacts
Laurie J. Hall
Director, Boston
lhall@goulstonstorrs.com+1 617 574 4028
Kitt Sawitsky
Of Counsel, Boston
ksawitsky@goulstonstorrs.com+1 617 574 4036