Business Law
Trusted Business Attorney – Arizona and Texas
For more than 29 years, the Law Office of Nino Abate has helped Arizona businesses form, grow, transact, and — when necessary — defend themselves. We work with startups, family-owned companies, professional practices, real estate investors, and established businesses across Phoenix and the Greater Phoenix area on the legal side of running and protecting a company.
Whether you’re forming an LLC, signing your first big contract, buying or selling a business, restructuring ownership, navigating a partner dispute, or just trying to make sure your day-to-day operations are on solid legal ground, we’re the firm clients call when they need someone who understands both the deal and the dispute side of business law.
Business Formation & Entity Selection
Choosing the right entity — LLC, S-corp, C-corp, partnership, or professional entity — affects your taxes, your liability exposure, your ability to raise capital, and what happens if an owner leaves. We help new and existing business owners pick the right structure, file the formation documents, draft operating agreements or bylaws, and set up the governance framework so that everyone knows the rules from day one.
Business Contracts
Most business problems start with a bad contract or no contract at all. We draft, review, and negotiate the agreements your business actually relies on: master services agreements, NDAs, vendor and supplier contracts, independent contractor and employment agreements, licensing deals, loan and security agreements, and indemnity provisions. Our job is to make sure the contract protects you when things go right — and especially when they go wrong.
Buying & Selling a Business
Buying or selling a business is rarely a one-page transaction. We handle letters of intent, due diligence, asset purchase agreements, stock purchase agreements, non-compete and non-solicit covenants, escrow and earn-out structures, and the post-closing transition. Whether it’s a family business changing hands, an investor acquiring a competitor, or an owner finally cashing out, we make sure the deal closes cleanly and the documents protect you long after.
Mergers & Acquisitions
For larger transactions, we handle the full M&A process — deal structuring, term sheets, due diligence coordination, definitive agreements, regulatory considerations, and closing logistics. We work alongside your accountant, banker, and broker to keep everyone moving toward the same outcome.
Partnership & Shareholder Disputes
Co-owner disputes are some of the hardest situations a business can face. Deadlocks, freeze-outs, breaches of fiduciary duty, fights over distributions or compensation, accusations of misappropriation — these issues threaten not just the business but the personal relationships behind it. We represent owners on both sides of these disputes, pushing for buyouts, dissolutions, or court intervention when negotiation fails. Our civil litigation practice handles these matters when they have to go to court.
Business Restructuring
Sometimes a business needs to change shape — bringing in new owners, splitting off a division, converting from an LLC to a corporation, or reorganizing for tax reasons. We handle the restructuring documents, the consents, and the regulatory filings that go with each step.
Employment Law for Employers
We help businesses with employment agreements, employee handbooks, non-compete and non-solicit clauses, independent contractor classification, severance and separation agreements, and responses to wage claims and EEOC charges. We focus on small to mid-sized employers who don’t have an in-house HR or legal team and need straightforward, practical advice.
Corporate Governance
Operating agreements, bylaws, board resolutions, member or shareholder consents, annual minutes — the unsexy paperwork that keeps your liability shield intact. We help businesses set up and maintain the corporate governance habits that protect owners personally and prevent disputes later.
Outside General Counsel
Most small and mid-sized businesses don’t need a full-time in-house lawyer — they need someone they can call when a question comes up, get a fast and practical answer, and not get billed for an hour every time. We’d love to be that lawyer for your business. We can serve as your go-to outside general counsel on a flat-fee or as-needed basis, handling the recurring legal questions and pulling in specialists only when something is outside our wheelhouse.
How We Work
Many of our business clients also have real estate questions — entity structure for an investment property, leases, partnership agreements with co-investors — and we handle those too. (See our real estate practice for more.) Working with one firm that understands both sides keeps things efficient.
We’re known for being responsive, direct, and creative. We tell you what we’d do if it were our business. And we always give you a clear picture of cost vs. benefit before we make a move.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does a business dispute become a litigation matter?
Most disputes start as letters and negotiation, and most resolve without going to court. But when negotiation stalls, the financial exposure grows, or the other side has retained counsel, it’s time to consider litigation. We wrote a full breakdown on this question — see When Does a Business Dispute Become a Litigation Matter?
What are the most common contract disputes you handle in Arizona?
Breach of contract, contract interpretation disputes, non-payment claims, non-compete enforcement, and fraud-based claims are the bread and butter of business contract litigation. We covered the categories in detail in Common Contract Disputes and How Arizona Courts Handle Them.
Do I really need a lawyer to form an LLC in Arizona?
You can form an LLC yourself through the Arizona Corporation Commission, and many people do. But the formation paperwork is the easy part — the operating agreement, the tax election, the buy-sell provisions, and the governance rules are where the real protection comes from, and those are usually what people get wrong without legal help.
Can you serve as our general counsel even if we already have other lawyers?
Yes. Many of our outside general counsel clients have specialists for IP, immigration, or tax. We handle the day-to-day business law questions and coordinate with the specialists when needed.
Do you work with businesses outside of Phoenix?
Most of our clients are in Phoenix and Maricopa County, but we work with businesses throughout Arizona. We’re also licensed in Texas.
Talk to a Phoenix Business Attorney
Whether you’re starting a business, growing one, buying or selling, or in the middle of a dispute, we’d like to hear about it. Contact us to schedule a consultation about your business law matter.