Business Law

Business Law

Trusted business allies remove impediments to your success

If you are planning to start your own business in Indiana, or if you want to expand your current business, an experienced and knowledgeable business law attorney can help expedite the process and ensure your success. Shine & Hardin, LLP assists individuals and businesses of all sizes with a full range of legal services, including:

  • Contract review and development
  • Breach of contract
  • Business formation and advice
  • Buy and sell agreements
  • Commercial and civil litigation
  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Shareholder disputes

Our attorneys are well-prepared to handle business legal issues of any size or complexity. If litigation becomes necessary, we work tirelessly to defend your rights in court and provide the best possible results for your case.

Realizing your business objectives

A focus of our firm is helping clients start their own businesses. We review your business plans and advise on issues involved in business formation and maintenance, including potential liability, corporate entity formation and tax structures. Once your business has been established, we continue to help it grow by advising on insurance coverage, investment strategies, and corporate compliance issues. We also look after your best interests by finding strategies to limit your personal liability and increase your bottom line.

Helping business owners move forward

We work closely with business owners to ensure businesses run smoothly. We often negotiate and draft contracts and buy-and-sell agreements, assist with corporate compliance measures and tax filing, and represent businesses in shareholder disputes and commercial litigation cases. Our attorneys are seasoned negotiators and litigators, and know how to best represent your financial interests, successfully resolving your issues in the boardroom or the courtroom.

Business Litigation

If you engage in commerce, sooner or later you are almost certain to encounter a dispute with a client or contractor that you’ll need outside help to resolve. At Shine & Hardin, LLP, we assist businesses through alternative dispute resolution and civil court trials in both state and federal court. We have the knowledge and experience to help your business in cases related to:

  • Antitrust, unfair practices and trade regulation violations
  • Banking and creditor issues, including lender liability
  • Breach of contract
  • Breach of warranty
  • Business torts
  • Construction law
  • Environmental law
  • Insurance
  • Products liability
  • Real estate
  • Partnership and shareholder disputes

Recovery from breach of contract

When a party to a contract fails to perform, he damages the other business. This damage often goes beyond the immediate inconvenience of getting less than promised by the contract. The breach can also cost you future profits if you are unable to serve your clients as a result. Our skilled attorneys can help you achieve the best legal remedy for a breach of contract, such as:

  • Compensatory damages – Reimbursement for immediate monetary loss
  • Consequential and incidental damages – Compensation for additional foreseeable losses caused by the breach
  • Attorney fees and costs – Amounts available only if the contract expressly states they are recoverable
  • Liquidated damages – Amounts specified in the contract that are payable for particular breaches, such as late or substandard performance
  • Specific performance – Court order requiring the breaching party to fulfill the terms of the contract
  • Punitive damages – Penalty for a party’s objectionable behavior, meant to punish the breaching party and discourage other parties from acting in a similar manner
  • Rescission – Cancellation of the contract, with both sides excused from further performance and payments made under the contract returned
  • Reformation – Change in the terms of the contract when the court believes there was an honest misunderstanding by the parties about what was to be performed

Affordable alternatives to a civil suit

The cost of traditional litigation can easily exceed the amount of the contract. Fortunately there are various means of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), including mediation and arbitration, which are less costly and quicker than civil lawsuits, but can deliver the same remedies. Our skilled negotiators have successfully represented clients in arbitration and mediation hearings, and have settled lawsuits prior to trial, saving our clients expenses and getting their businesses back on track.

Contact a dependable Fort Wayne law firm to get your business moving again

If your business has been damaged by someone else’s conduct, you need to take action. Delaying the exercise of your rights could mean losing them. Recovering damages could mean the difference between profitability and insolvency for your company. Contact us online or call Shine & Hardin, LLP at 260-745-1970 to schedule a consultation.