Contract & Transactional Attorneys in Dearborn
Contract review, contract drafting, and the deal documents Metro Detroit businesses sign, from vendor agreements and leases to buy-sell agreements and business sales.
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The practice
LegalSolv’s contract attorneys in Dearborn, Michigan draft, review, and negotiate the agreements that Metro Detroit businesses run on. Most business problems began as a paragraph nobody read carefully in a document somebody signed years ago. Transactional work happens before anything is broken: reviewing the vendor agreement, drafting the operating agreement, negotiating the purchase agreement, putting buy-sell language in place, and getting the lease right.
The typical client is a business owner about to sign something significant. A deal, a partnership, a sale, a lease, or a financing. They want someone reading the document who is actually representing their side.
Contract review and drafting
Contract work is most of what this practice does, and it splits into two jobs.
Contract review is for the document the other side wrote. A customer’s master services agreement, a supplier’s terms, a franchise agreement, an equipment lease, a commercial lease, an employment or independent contractor agreement, a non-compete. We read it against how your business actually works, mark the provisions that shift risk onto you, and send back a short list: what to ask them to change, what to accept, and what should stop the deal. Turnaround on a standard review is usually days, not weeks.
Contract drafting is for the agreements you hand to other people. Service agreements, vendor and supply contracts, NDAs, licensing, partnership and operating agreements, and the templates a growing company uses over and over. A good template, drafted once around your business, saves a review every time you sign a new customer.
The provisions that cause the most trouble later are rarely the price terms. They are indemnification, limitation of liability, personal guarantees, automatic renewal, assignment, and the clause that says where you have to sue. Those are the ones we spend the most time on.
Transactional services
- Contract drafting and negotiation. Service agreements, supply contracts, vendor agreements, NDAs, and licensing.
- Contract review. Flat-fee review of agreements the other side drafted, with a written list of what to negotiate.
- Mergers and acquisitions. Asset purchases, stock purchases, and business sales from letter of intent through closing.
- Buy-sell agreements. Owner exit planning, valuation methodologies, and transfer restrictions.
- Commercial lease negotiation. Office, retail, and industrial lease drafting and negotiation.
- Financing and lending. Loan documentation, security agreements, and creditor’s rights.
- Corporate governance. Board resolutions, shareholder agreements, succession planning, and ongoing compliance.
- Employment agreements. Executive contracts, non-competes, non-solicitation provisions, and severance arrangements.
- Intellectual property agreements. Licensing, assignments, and IP transfer in transaction contexts.
Entity formation and the day-to-day counsel that comes with running a company sit with our business attorneys in Dearborn. When a signed contract is already broken and the other side will not fix it, our business litigation attorneys in Dearborn handle the dispute.
How deals are worked
- Understand the deal first. Before redlining anything, the firm wants to understand what you are trying to accomplish, who has leverage, and which terms matter. Otherwise the markup is lawyering for the sake of lawyering.
- Push where it counts. The firm negotiates hard on the provisions that matter: indemnification, representations and warranties, and exit provisions. Flexibility on the rest is how deals actually close.
- Draft for the breakup. Contracts get reread when things go wrong. The firm drafts so you are protected when that day comes, not just when everyone is on good terms.
- Coordinate with your other advisors. Your accountant, banker, and tax advisor need to see the same deal the firm sees. We coordinate so the documents line up across the team.
Who we work with
Family-owned businesses, automotive suppliers, real estate developers, contractors, professional services firms, restaurants, and small to mid-sized companies across Dearborn, Wayne County, and Metro Detroit, in English and Arabic. The common thread is owner-operators who want the deal done right without paying for a Big Law deal team.
Contract & Transactional Law FAQ
A contract attorney drafts, reviews, and negotiates agreements before they are signed. On a review, that means reading the document the other side sent, flagging the provisions that shift risk onto you (indemnification, limitation of liability, termination, personal guarantees, non-competes), and telling you which ones to push back on. On a draft, it means writing an agreement that says what you actually agreed to and holds up if the relationship goes bad. Litigation is a different job: it is what happens when the contract did not do its work.
For any contract carrying material liability, ongoing obligations, or significant financial commitment, yes. Standard form contracts often contain provisions that quietly favor the party who drafted them. A few hours of attorney review is usually far less expensive than discovering an unfavorable clause during a dispute.
Who the parties are and whether you are signing personally or as the company. What each side has to do and by when. How and when either side can get out. What happens on a breach, including liquidated damages, attorney fee provisions, and the forum and governing law. Indemnification and insurance. Limitation of liability. Assignment, so you know whether the contract follows the business if you sell it. Anything that renews automatically. The review ends with a short list of what to ask the other side to change and what you can live with.
Transactional law is the area of legal practice focused on drafting, negotiating, and reviewing the documents that govern business deals. That includes contracts, mergers and acquisitions, business sales, financing agreements, and corporate governance documents. Transactional attorneys work to prevent disputes. Litigators work to resolve them.
In an asset sale, the buyer purchases specific assets of the business (equipment, inventory, customer lists) and typically does not assume liabilities. In a stock (or membership interest) sale, the buyer purchases the entire entity, including its liabilities, history, and contracts. Buyers usually prefer asset sales; sellers usually prefer stock sales. The choice has major tax and liability implications.
Michigan gives you six years to sue on a written contract under MCL 600.5807, but the practical answer starts earlier: read the notice and cure provisions, send written notice the way the contract requires, keep performing your own side unless the contract lets you stop, and preserve every communication. Most breaches resolve with a demand letter and a negotiated fix. When they do not, our business litigation attorneys take the case from there.
Contracts & Transactions Across Metro Detroit
We represent contracts & transactions clients throughout Wayne County from our Dearborn office.
Visit Our Dearborn Office
We represent contracts & transactions clients throughout Wayne County and Metro Detroit from our Dearborn office.
- Address 22226 Garrison St
Dearborn, MI 48124 - Phone (313) 425-5555
- Hours Mon - Fri: 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM
- Languages English & Arabic
Closing a deal? Signing something significant?
Send the document. The firm will read it, flag the provisions that matter, and tell you what to negotiate.