Bill Hubbard
Creating Working Strategies for Complex Business Deals From Start to Finish
Quick Intro:
Most of Bill’s professional life has centered around helping entrepreneurial clients buy, sell, and grow their businesses, such as:
- A buyer or seller doing so for the first time.
- A multi-billion dollar private international firm expanding international operations.
- Assisting other domestic or international legal counsel on behalf of their clients.
- A host of other owners and companies across a wide spectrum of industries and sizes.
Bill is as comfortable negotiating the business deal directly with the other owner as drafting the complex legal documents needed to protect his clients’ interests and get the sought after result: a successful deal closing.
He’s taught on the art of M&A to other attorneys. And taught the legal portion of an M&A certification course for and to various intermediaries and investment bankers across the country. With degrees from West Point, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law (with high honors), and having a CPA and a wealth of transactional experience, Bill has been recognized by being named on the list of Illinois’ Mergers and Acquisitions and Closely Held Business and “Super Lawyers” by the publishers of magazine of that name. He was also named by Corporate INTL as Business Transition Attorney of the Year in Illinois. Bill, though, makes no claim other than to use—to the utmost of his abilities—such skills as he may possess on behalf of each client whose interests he serves. And, he wants it noted, the Illinois Supreme Court does not recognize a lawyer’s certifications or specialties, none of which are requisite to the practice of law.
Biography:
Bill Hubbard has, as mentioned, over 30 years of experience helping lower middle-market and other businesses and their owners buy, grow, sell their companies, as well as navigate many other important matters which they face. He established Hubbard Business Counsel in 1997, after previously having been a partner in two of the largest Chicago law firms. He graduated from West Point (B.S., 1973), and the Illinois Institute of Technology/Chicago-Kent College of Law (J.D., with high honors,1978) and is a Registered Illinois Certified Public Accountant.
Business, M & A and Securities Attorney licensed in Illinois, New York, and
Massachusetts (& Illinois registered CPA) and, while not licensed in Delaware,
frequently employs, and has written and lectured on, various aspects of Delaware
business law. To stay current, He is a member of each of the ABA Business Law Committees or Sub-committees (e.g. Mergers and Acquisitions, Securities, Private Equity, Business Law, Taxation, Limited Liability Companies, and Middle Market and Small Business Committees) and Chicago Bar Association Sub-committees (Mergers and Acquisition, Securities, Taxation), the American Institute of CPAs, the Illinois CPA Society, the Association for Corporate Growth, Alliance of M & A Advisors, and the Midwest Business Brokers and Intermediaries Association. He is a former Director and Education Committee Chair of the National Crowdfunding Association. He helped found, and chaired during its first year, the Middle-Market Pillar of the Private Directors Association. He is a former Director and Past President of the West Point Society of Chicago. He served as an airborne and ranger trained infantry officer for the U.S. Army Judge Advocate Corps prosecutor and Officer-In-Charge in Berlin and as an Army prosecutor in Augsburg, Germany. Bill, and his wife, Susan, split their time between the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago and the Catskill Mountains of New York.
Additional Recent Publications:
Market Trends 2018/19: Blockchain Security Token Offerings (Published in August, 2019 by Lexis Nexis Practice Advisor), Co-authored with Rebecca DiStefano, Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig.
Market Trends: Blockchain Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) – Risks, Regulations, and Riches (Published in 2018 by Lexis Nexis Practice Advisor), Co-authored with Rebecca Distefano, Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig.
CEOs and Owners: Lower Middle-Market Companies M&A, Opportunities, & Dangers From New 21% Rate & Section 199A Deductions, 2018, Self-Published.
- Admitted to practice law in Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts (and has extensively used and has written and presented on Delaware business law)
- Business, M & A and Securities Attorney
- Formerly a Partner at Two Large Chicago Firms
- He has been a Chair of each of the Illinois CPA Society, Mergers and Acquisitions Special Interest Group and the Chicago Bar Association Mergers and Acquisitions Sub-Committee of the Business Law Committee and has presented a number of relevant talks to and for each.
- Formerly an Infantry Officer in the U.S. Army’s then Berlin Brigade & former Army Prosecutor and Command Legal Officer in Augsburg, Germany.
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Awards
Award name Grantor Date granted Business Transition Attorney of the Year in Illinois Corporate INTL Various Years Super Lawyer Super Lawyers Various Years -
Titles
Title Company name Duration Founder Hubbard Business Counsel 1997 – Present Partner Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP 1993 – 1997 Partner Keck Mahin & Cate 1989 – 1993 Founder Hubbard, Ltd. 1982 – 1989 Attorney Shelton & Kalcheim 1981 – 1982 OIC, Augsburg, Germany,OSJA, VII Corps United States Army 1978 – 1981 Infantry Platoon Leader, Berlin, Germany U S Army 1973 – 1975 -
Associations
Association name Position name Duration American Bar Association Member Business Law Committee (Middle Market and Small Business, Limited Liability Companies, Merger and Acquisitions and other Sub-Committees) 2005 – Present Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors Member 2004 – Present Association for Corporate Growth Member 1993 – Present American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Member 1981 – Present Private Directors Association, NFP A Founder and Chair, Middle-Market Pillar 2014 – 2015 Chicago Bar Association, Business and Accusations Committee Past Co-Chair, Mergers and Acquisitions Subcommittee 2006 – 2008 Illinois CPA Society Former Chair, Mergers and Acquisition SIG, Chair Annual M&A Conference, authored and scripted Sample Deal Negotiation 20006 2005 – Present West Point Society of Chicago Former President and Member of Board of Directors 1986 – Present -
Publications
Publication name Title Date Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education Limited Liability Companies and S Corporations Leadership and Management, Liability, and Dispute Resolution with Supplement and Selected Formsl. 2015 and ’08,’10,’12,’13 Mergers and Acquisition Handbook for Small and Midsize Company, Wiley Advisor Engagement Letters 1997 Mergers and Acquisitions Handbook for Small and Midsize Companies, Wiley Letters of Intent and Purchase and Sale Agreements 1997 Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education Illinois & Delaware Corporations; Co-Authored with Jim Lestikow 1996 -
Conferences Or Speaking
Conference or Speaking Title Date MyLawCLE & Walters Kluwer Limited Liability Companies and S Corporations 2017 Private Directors Association The Family and Private Co. CEO Board Advantage 2015 Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education LLC and Corporation Leadership and Management Structures, Liability Limitations, and Dispute Processes (including Delaware) 2015, 2013, 2012, 2010, 2008, AM&AA Certified Merger and Acquisitions Advisor (“CMAA”) certification program Legal Aspects of Mergers and Acquisitions Various Times Between 2008 and 2016 Chicago Tech 2012 Jobs Act Crowdfunding & Accredited Investors 2012 Alliance of Merger and Acquisition Annual Conference Jobs Act Private Placements Including Crowdfunding 2012 Exit Planning, Illinois CPA Society Exit Planning 2007 Chicago bar Association Mergers and Acquisitions Subcommittee Successor Liabilities 2006 Il. CPA. Mergers and Acquisitions Conference Mergers and Acquistions 2006 Merger & Acquisition Subcommittee, Chicago Bar Association Earnouts 2005 Il. CPA. Conference Limited Liability Partnerships 1994 Chicago Bar Assn., Purchase and Sale of a Business Purchase and Sale of a Business 1994
Client Team:
The right amount of support for each client’s needs is essential. The team you need for your matter can and will be staffed based upon what I believe to be effective and efficient representation. So, you might ask, how does a one person firm–regardless of how intelligent, experienced and skilled–do so when a particular matter, client, or family might feel it better served with one of the Am Law 100 monoliths. Here’s how, exactly: by using my leadership skills to quickly assemble and lead a team of advisors and staff support, one dedicated to achieving your goals. From West Point, to the Army (as a Ranger, infantry platoon leader, Army prosecutor, and Army law office officer-in-charge), to a small firm, to solo, to 2 Am Law 100s, and back again to a sole practitioner and leader of teams, I’ve learned first hand what’s needed to give my clients– given their own unique landscapes–their best shot to achieve their goals. I’ve developed a professional network ranging from colleagues at Handler Thayer to respected former colleagues at the Am Law firms to talented and experienced attorneys and other professionals across much of the spectrum both geographically and including those professionals who will or might be needed in most business settings: Purchase or Sale of Business, Raising Capital, Board development and advice, ESOPs, Investments, Disputes, Family Business Dynamics, Succession, Estate Planning, Securities Offerings, Blockchain and ICOs, Software projects and licensing, Financings, Growth, Sustainability, And More. So being part of or organizing and leading the team which can be instrumental to my Clients’ successes is what matters. And whether I am the team lead, needed team member, or simply a valuable resource and counselor matters not; it is each of my client’s interests which are paramount.
Special Counsel:
Being brought in as a “Special Counsel”–one who can collaboratively use skills for the benefit of another firm’s clients for the purpose of achieving a desired outcome–has and frequently does occur in my practice. In particular, I and Handler Thayer have developed a collaborative “Special Counsel” and not “Of Counsel” relationship to optimally leverage our respective skills and provide additional depth and breadth when each of us believes the Client’s interest can be best served by doing so. Handler Thayer is an internationally recognized sophisticated boutique Chicago-based law firm which concentrates in the ares of advanced estate, business, U.S. and international tax and financial planning, multi-family offices as well as business, corporate, real estate, and sports and entertainment law, employing attorneys, CPAs, and MBAs to provide a multi-disciplinary focus to its legal practice. A major strength and focus of Handler Thayer is in serving the needs of multi-generational Family Offices for which it and its counsel have received much recognition for their services. We each, when we each judge it serves a client’s interests, ask the other to act as a “Special Counsel” for such purposes.
Bill has been recognized as one of Illinois’ Closely Held Business and Mergers and Acquisitions “SuperLawyers” by Law and Politics Magazine in connection with Chicago Magazine (www.superlawyers.com). (“SuperLawyers are the top 5% of the attorneys in each state as chosen by their peers and verified by our independent research. Our list of Super Lawyers is based on surveys of more than 47,000 lawyers across Illinois.”)
Bill has been recognized by Corporate INTL as various years “Business Transition Attorney of the Year in Illinois”. Corporate INTL is an international magazine for business leaders, professional advisers and providers of finance throughout the world. The awards commemorate those who have been considered successful over the past 12 months and who have shown excellence not only in expertise but in service. (Bill notes again that the Illinois Supreme Court does not recognize lawyers’ certifications or specialities, none of which are requisite to the practice of law.)
Time: our enemy, our friend. Once spent, its utility–both in business and life generally–cannot be recaptured. So using our time skillfully– wisely, will have profound effects on our businesses, our lives, and many of the lives of those whose lives we affect. And whether in troubles, opportunities, or successes, let us choose to use ours towards enriching lives–our own and others.