Banking Law has become an important part of our practice over the the last several years because of the explosion of development in Northwest Arkansas. Keith, Miller, Butler, Schneider & Pawlik, PLLC has significant experience in multifaceted financial transactions. In addition to structuring and documenting loan and lease transactions for financial institutions, our commercial and banking lawyers join with others within the firm in interdisciplinary undertakings when workout, foreclosure or insolvency issues arise.
Business law involves taking a business from startup to dissolution and dealing with all the issues in between. At startup, the primary question is what form of business will you operate in: a sole proprietor, limited liability company or corporation. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Other issues to consider are employees, taxes and investors. Relationships with clients are also important to consider and are usually governed with contracts.
Civil litigation is the process whereby two or more persons involved in a dispute have their dispute resolved by the Courts. Each party presents its side to the Court and the Court, either through the Judge or by a jury, decides the outcome. There are several levels of civil court. Small cases are heard in State District Court while larger cases are tried in State Circuit Court. Cases involving questions of federal law or involving parties from different states are heard in Federal Court. Most other areas of law can be classified under civil litigation whenever a dispute arises.
The area of criminal defense encompasses pre arrest investigation, release, negotiation, trial litigation and appeal. These aspects include both federal and state cases and range from simple traffic violations to the most complex white-collar crimes. It is the position of this firm that everyone is presumed innocent as the law demands and the representation is to not only protect liberty but to repair the reputations damaged by the accusation.
Domestic relations deals with all issues regarding families. This includes divorce when a marriage breaks up, child custody when parents are divorcing or when the parents are already divorced and something changes in their situation, and paternity, which is a process of determining parental rights and obligations of the father of a child. This area of the law also includes ad litems, who are advocates for the children during a domestic case.
Employment law covers the employer-employee relationship and is governed by both State and Federal law. Common issues are discrimination complaints, wrongful termination and breach of contract.
The category of law called "personal injury" includes cases involving injury or death to a person as a result of the fault of another.
The area of real estate law includes buying and selling a home, Landlord/Tenant Issues, Rezoning, land use, construction easements and boundary line disputes. Everyone at sometime or another is involved with or affected by an area of real estate law, and whether you are buying a home, renting an apartment or rezoning commercial property, it is important to know your rights and obligations under the law. We represent many apartment owners in their eviction cases. We also can provide review of contracts on the purchase or sale of land along with issues dealing wi
Our law firm, because of the uniqueness of having an attorney who is also a certified public accountant, can handle all of your tax issues from preparing your return through an audit to the United States Tax Court. All types of government entities from the city to federal levy a tax upon its citizens in order to pay for its services. A tax can take many forms, including a tax on income, property or sales. There are also taxes levied on transfers of wealth either by gift or inheritance.
Planning your estate through the use of a will or trust allows you to decide how your property will be distributed upon your death. For clients with high net worth the planning will include taking steps to reduce or eliminate estate taxes through a variety of options. Steve Butler, a partner in the firm, is both an attorney and a certified public account. This allows our firm to handle estates both large and small.