Middle Market and Small Business

Message From The Chair

The mission of the Middle Market and Small Business Committee is to serve corporate and transactional lawyers who counsel small and mid-sized enterprises controlled by families, entrepreneurs, PEGs or VC firms, and smaller publicly-held companies.

Committee Facts

Over 1300 US and international members

Three in-person meetings a year at the Business Law Section Spring Meeting, the ABA Annual Meeting and the Business Law Section Fall Meeting in Washington, DC

Committee meetings typically feature a mini-presentation on a substantive practice area as well as provide an opportunity to share practical advice relevant to smaller and medium-size companies

Current areas of focus include securities regulations that affect smaller public companies and capital raising activities of private companies, including exemptions from registration, private placement brokers and scaled disclosure regulation

Membership provides various opportunities for participation in CLE panels and workshops, writing and commenting on proposed regulations of the SEC and other agencies

Areas of Expertise

Entity organization and owner agreements

Capital formation, financing and strategic partnering

Employment and compensation matters

Intellectual property protection

Corporate governance

Securities law compliance

International expansion and cross-border transactions

Business combinations, restructurings and breakups

Mission Statement

The Middle Market and Small Business Committee serves corporate and transactional lawyers who counsel small and mid-sized enterprises controlled by families, entrepreneurs, PEGs or VC firms, and smaller publicly-held companies.

We provide a forum for sharing information, delivering continuing legal education, and addressing the practical issues of counseling small and mid-sized clients.
We focus on the entire business "life cycle" of our clients, including (i) entity organization and owner agreements; (ii) capital formation, financing and strategic partnering; (iii) employment and compensation matters; (iv) intellectual property protection; (v) corporate governance; (vi) securities law compliance; (vii) international expansion and cross-border transactions; and (viii) business combinations, restructurings, and breakups.
We have long been an advocate before the SEC, the IRS and other regulatory agencies of reforms to address the special problems confronted by small businesses, including smaller public companies.
Our Private Placement Broker Task Force advocates a simplified registration system for finders of financing for early stage companies.