Areas
of Practice
Bingham McHale draws upon a rich history of professional excellence
dating to 1912 as it continues to provide the highest level of
service to our clients. Our attorneys have the depth and breadth
of knowledge and experience to serve our clients' legal and business
needs in numerous practice disciplines. To meet the full-service
needs of our clients, the firm is comprised of more than 20 active
practice areas:
- Appellate
- Business Services
- Business Litigation
- Construction
- Diversified Business Solutions
- Employee Benefits
- Environmental
- Estate & Wealth Planning
- Federal & State Tax
- Financial Institutions
- Government Services
- Health Care
- Insurance
- Intellectual Property & Technology
- Labor & Employment
- Litigation
- Long-Term Care
- Matrimonial Law
- Non-Competes & Trade Secrets
- Plaintiff Personal Injury
- Property Tax
- Public Finance
- Real Estate
- Utilities
- White Collar Criminal Defense
Our Appellate Group represents clients at all levels of the state
and federal court systems, including the Supreme Courts of Indiana
and the United States. Our attorneys also represent clients before
the State Board of Law Examiners, as well as the Supreme Court
Disciplinary Commission. In addition to possessing the knowledge
and skill to prosecute and defend appeals before these appellate
courts, our attorneys also have substantial experience in areas
of the original jurisdiction of the Indiana Supreme Court and
emergency jurisdiction and stays before the Indiana Court of
Appeals and Supreme Court. These include the filing of petitions
for writs of mandamus and prohibition to challenge orders of
a trial court. The experience of our Appellate Group enables
us to pursue not only the appeal of cases handled at the trial
level by our Litigation Group, but also those originating from
outside sources.
Our Business Litigation attorneys serve businesses and individuals
from all sectors of the economy by combining substantive expertise
with extensive trial experience. The practice group consists
of fourteen partners, eleven associates and four paralegals with
broad-based experience in numerous areas from both the plaintiff
and defense perspectives. Our attorneys regularly handle contracts
and shareholder disputes, unfair trade practices and antitrust
matters, intellectual property, and product distribution disputes,
among others. They have served as counsel in national and state
class actions involving, in some cases, several thousand-class
members, and have defended such actions as well. Our attorneys
also regularly defend clients in a variety of civil actions and
regulatory matters involving almost any issue confronting contemporary
business.
Bingham McHale assists individuals and enterprises of all sizes,
from sole proprietorships and partnerships to private and public
corporations. The Business Services Group attorneys provide advice
on structural matters involving entity selection, reorganizations,
acquisitions, dissolutions and business succession plans. Our
business practice encompasses operational matters as well, including
capital raising matters, equity, bank and bond financings, income
and property taxation matters, establishment of distribution
and franchising arrangements, and various legal compliance matters.
The firm's creditors' rights practice includes the representation
of financial institutions, publicly and closely held companies,
municipalities and individuals in matters involving: administration
of debtors' estates; defense of adversary proceedings, including
preferential payments, fraudulent transfers, turnovers, lien
avoidance and set offs; Chapter 7, 11, 12 and 13 bankruptcy proceedings;
real estate and foreclosures; replevin actions; defense and pursuit
of guarantors; collection of subrogation claims for medical expenses;
defense of tax claims in bankruptcy proceedings; out-of-court
work outs and numerous other commercial collection matters, both
large and small. The Firm has also been counsel to creditor and
equity committees and has been involved in the defense of and
prosecution of adversary proceedings of all types.
The members of the Construction Law Group provide comprehensive
legal services for the purchase, financing, development, design
construction, leasing and sale of property. In construction-related
projects, issues often arise regarding scheduling, bonding, permit
attainment, design or construction defects and contract obligations.
Practice group members have long counseled owners, contractors,
subcontractors, material suppliers and design professionals concerning
these complex matters. Our attorneys are also well versed at
contract negotiation, drafting and review, and public bidding.
The Employee Benefits Group helps companies of all sizes design
and manage their benefit packages. A significant part of our
practice is devoted to qualified retirement plans. Our attorneys
not only draft the required documents, but also obtain their
approval by the Internal Revenue Service. While a sound retirement
plan serves as a solid base for a benefit package, life, health
and disability programs are also important elements. Helping
to establish and interpret these plans represents a growing segment
of our practice as employers and employees alike recognize their
increasing significance.
Driven by scientific advances as well as societal and political
forces, environmental regulation has rapidly emerged over the
past 20 years as a major program. Our environmental attorneys
continue to empower clients with a competitive advantage by helping
them anticipate and navigate this constantly evolving regulatory
world. Our attorneys assist clients with all aspects of environmental
regulations, including permitting; defense of enforcement actions;
regulatory compliance counseling; the identification and management
of environmental risks in real estate transactions and business
acquisitions and mergers; and the development of impaired real
estate. The environmental practice also includes securing appropriate
permits, defending clients in environmental remediation proceedings,
defending administrative enforcement actions, working with engineers
to conduct environmental assessments, representing remedial action
contractors and environmental services companies, legislative
and regulatory lobbying and providing regulatory compliance analysis.
The Firm's Estate and Wealth Transfer Planning attorneys are knowledgeable
in estate planning, individual, business and estate tax planning,
estate administration, probate, guardianship, health care planning,
and the use of various trusts, including testamentary, living,
qualified personal residence, life insurance, grantor retained
interest, charitable lead and charitable remainder trusts. In
addition, our lawyers have experience with prenuptial agreements,
adoptions, estate and trust litigation, gifting arrangements,
limited partnerships, small business succession planning, life
insurance planning, and retirement planning. Some of our attorneys
have received professional distinctions from their peers, such
as being elected to the Society of the American College of Trust
and Estate Counsel. We are often asked to provide assistance
on a variety of complex and difficult estate and tax issues to
other attorneys, trust departments and accountants.
Our Federal and State Tax attorneys are knowledgeable and experienced
in all areas of federal and state tax laws. These include individual,
partnership and corporate tax planning, corporate acquisitions
and reorganizations, exempt organizations, estate planning, property
taxes, and sales and use taxes. The goal of our practice is simple:
to obtain the maximum benefit of tax laws for our clients while
minimizing the risk of unfavorable consequences. Our attorneys
assemble all of the pertinent information, analyze it and then
provide clients with informed, practical advice and representation.
The Financial Institutions Group includes matters ranging from mergers and acquisitions,
corporate structure of banking institutions, regulatory issues, board and shareholder
interests, to enforcement by regulators, retail banking advice and real estate
advice. Our attorneys also provide an array of services to numerous lenders
including banks and insurance companies with regard to structuring financing
alternatives, negotiating loan terms, preparing loan documentation, and advising
out of state lenders with respect to Indiana law requirements. We have assisted
many clients in structuring and obtaining financing to meet their capital needs
and in negotiating borrowings from banks, insurance companies and other lending
institutions.
The Firm offers a full range of government-related legal services
for governmental clients and private clients who transact business
before federal, state and local governmental bodies. Our attorneys
serve as general or special counsel to several local government
entities, advising clients on issues including ethics, acquisition
and disposal of property, public contracts, privatization, public
meetings and records laws, annexation, finance, taxation, employee
and labor relations and environmental matters. They also represent
government clients in state and federal court at both the trial
and appellate levels. Additionally, our attorneys represent our
business and government clients before regulatory and administrative
bodies and in hearings regarding rate-making, rule-making, gaming,
licensing, alcoholic beverage regulation, property taxes, permitting
and licensing and in connection with other issues arising at
the federal, state and local government levels.
The Health Care Group at Bingham McHale LLP is made up of a team
of lawyers dedicated to representing health care professionals
and organizations. Our services extend to individual physicians,
physician practice groups, health maintenance organizations,
preferred provider organizations, hospitals, nursing homes, ambulatory
surgery centers, and various other medical facilities and health
care organizations in the health care industry.
With over 75 years of extensive experience among the members of
Bingham McHale's insurance law group, our attorneys can provide
comprehensive counsel on the varied issues that face the insurance
industry. They assist our insurance clients with their coverage
issues, defense of policyholders, and business decisions. In
litigation, our attorneys represent our insurance clients and
policyholders in state and federal courts throughout the United
States. Our attorneys also represent our insurance clients before
the Indiana Department of Insurance.
One of the most important resources of any organization is the
intellectual property it develops. Advance planning and protection
of its intangible assets will yield new resources for any organization
in this ever expanding economy. The basic elements of any comprehensive
intellectual property protection plan generally include surveying
protection needs on a regular basis, planning for protection
in the development of new marks, anticipating intellectual property
questions, including positions taken by others, and planning
for protection in the marketing of new products or programs,
including in-house staff training. Our Intellectual Property & Technology
Group counsels organizations in many areas of domestic and foreign
intellectual property law, including patent, trademark and unfair
competition, computer, trade secret, copyright, and technology
law.
The Labor and Employment Group of Bingham McHale represents employers
in all aspects of labor, employment and employee benefits law.
We offer an array of legal services provided by skilled and experienced
professionals who are recognized leaders in their fields. Every
client receives prompt, individualized attention and access to
a comprehensive array of labor and employment services. We believe
that the strength of our labor and employment practice provides
our clients with a competitive advantage in their respective
industries.
Bingham McHale's Family Law Group is one of the largest full-service
matrimonial and family law practices in the State of Indiana.
Our attorneys represent clients in a wide spectrum of family
law matters, including premarital agreements, cohabitation, separation,
divorce, custody, parenting arrangements, adoption, and domestic
partnerships. Our clients benefit from the depth uniquely available
through Bingham McHale, where our attorneys offer decades of
experience in tax, estate planning, business, real estate, and
complex litigation.
While it is not widely known, Bingham McHale has a history of involvement
in some of the highest profile and most significant plaintiffs'
personal injury cases, which have been prosecuted in the State
of Indiana. The attorneys accept, have prosecuted and have obtained
extremely favorable results with respect to the following: Burn
injury cases; Spinal cord injury cases; Closed head injury cases;
Wrongful death actions; Construction site cases; and Vehicular
collision cases.
The property tax services group represents large and small taxpayers
in challenging real and personal property tax assessments for
manufacturing and other businesses, commercial real estate buildings
and properties, and residential property. For decades the Firm
also has successfully represented numerous utilities in connection
with the assessment of their properties in Indiana. Our attorneys
have experience in business personal property tax assessments
and matters involving redevelopment law and tax-subsidized redevelopment.
Bingham McHale leads and assists public sector clients with their
financing needs as well as private entities accessing and implementing
financing options made available through public sector entities.
Public finance involves dealing with compliance with law which
is different for nearly all types of governmental units, meeting
disclosure requirements imposed by the Securities and Exchange
Commission to have access to a public bond underwriting, negotiating
with other financing participants that regularly operate in the
area, and so on, and the lawyers of the Bingham McHale Public
Finance Group effectively inform and empower clients in these
matters.
The Real Estate Group provides an array of services related to
the acquisition and development of land. These include but are
not limited to purchasing, financing, development, design and
construction, environmental due diligence, land use planning,
leasing and sales, lender negotiation, and real estate litigation
(mortgage, lease, title disputes; lien foreclosures; condemnation,
other contractual disagreements). Our attorneys counsel and advise
owners, developers and governmental entities based on more than
70 years' real estate experience.
The firm's Utility Group provide utilities, municipalities, developers
and utility consultants with a broad spectrum of utility related
services, advice and representation by combining substantive
knowledge with extensive utility industry experience. The Firm
represents clients in the water, wastewater, telecommunications,
electric and gas utility industries. Our public utility practice
includes substantial participation in certification, rate making
and other proceedings before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission
and other agencies involving all aspects of utility operations
and regulatory compliance. We assist utility clients in the creation
of utilities, negotiation of joint ventures and special contracts
for utility services, and in the negotiation, purchase and sale
of utility systems. We are also counsel and represent clients
in connection with the structuring and approval process for financing
utility acquisitions and with the financing of utility system
improvements.
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