Not only is manufacturing and distribution the backbone of Wisconsin’s economy, it plays a prominent role in our 100-year history. We represent many of the area’s largest manufacturers and have grown with them over the course of our histories.
As a full-service business law firm, our attorneys provide a diverse spectrum of services for manufacturers and distributors of locally based operations to internationally based facilities. We have extensive experience advising clients on a wide-variety of issues, including day-to-day operational issues as well as sophisticated transactions that are key to a business’s success.
The challenges faced by manufacturers are real. We understand the competitive and increasingly global marketplace and the pressure to be lean, cost-effective, and proactive. Working as trusted advisors to manufacturers and distributors, our attorneys combine legal knowledge with business acumen to provide clients with decisive, sound counsel.
We work collaboratively as a firm to provide our clients with timely, practical, and cost-effective legal guidance. Clients benefit from an attorney team with experience in all of our comprehensive practice areas. Services include:
- Business succession planning
- Commercial litigation
- Deferred compensation
- Distribution agreements
- Employee manuals
- Employment and personnel issues
- Employment contracts
- Entity formations
- Finance and lease arrangements
- Licensing issues
- Loan and equipment lease documents
- Non-compete and non-solicitation agreements
- Non-disclosure agreements
- Operating agreements
- Purchase and sale of manufacturing and distribution operations
- Purchase and sale of real estate including manufacturing facilities
- Regulatory compliance
- Reorganization strategies
- Risk management strategies
- Shareholder agreements
- Shareholder disputes
- Stock options
- Supply agreements
- Tax advice
- Terms and conditions of sale
- Trademark protection and intellectual property matters
- Warranty and product liability issues
- Work force issues
In addition, Ruder Ware is a member of Meritas, a premier global alliance of independent law firms working collaboratively to provide businesses with qualified legal expertise. Our membership allows us to connect clients to rigorously vetted law firms anywhere in the world.
Posted on April 3, 2020 by Amy E. Ebeling
An updated PPP application has been released and it is our understanding that this updated application is the ONLY application that will be accepted by lending institutions. The updated form can be accessed here. The PPP loan is also FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE so submit your applications as soon as possible beginning today, April 3rd, 2020. We […]
Posted on April 3, 2020 by Joseph M. Mella
As we enter a new month with the rental landscape changed in dramatic ways by the coronavirus pandemic, landlords will undoubtedly be facing requests from tenants for rent relief. As you proceed to address these requests, some of the lessons from the last economic recession are applicable today. Before you begin discussions, consider obtaining a […]
Posted on April 2, 2020 by Amy E. Ebeling and Mary Ellen Schill
The SBA released the Interim Final Rule announcing more information on the Paycheck Protection Program. The Interim Final Rule provides some program clarifications, but also provides some program changes. Note, the applicable interest rate is now 1%. There is also more information on how to calculate payroll costs to determine the maximum loan amount including examples. […]
Posted on April 2, 2020 by Sara J. Ackermann, Mary Ellen Schill and Amy E. Ebeling
Yesterday we issued an ealert (click here) that advised you the Department of Labor finally issued its detailed regulations for the FFCRA. Upon closer review, we have found the DOL expanded the definition of “Child Care Provider” for both the Emergency Paid Sick leave and the Expanded FMLA to include “family member or friend, who […]
Posted on April 1, 2020 by Sara J. Ackermann, Mary Ellen Schill and Amy E. Ebeling
Today the DOL released detailed regulations with answers to nearly every question we have had over the past two weeks regarding this law. While we are still reviewing these regulations, there are two important details that had so far NOT been answered before now: First, the DOL specifically states that the paid leave under category […]
Posted on April 1, 2020 by Mary Ellen Schill and Amy E. Ebeling
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “FFCRA”) provides certain eligible employers with refundable tax credits that reimburse those employers for the cost of paying the paid sick and family leave wages as required by FFCRA. After almost two weeks, the IRS has released extensive guidance on the refundable tax credits, including 66 FAQ questions. […]
Posted on March 31, 2020 by Amy E. Ebeling and Mary Ellen Schill
The SBA and Treasury moments ago released updated information on the new Paycheck Protection Program created by the CARES Act. The program is specifically designed to help small businesses (less than 500 employees) keep their workforce employed by providing an SBA guaranteed loan. The program also provides for forgiveness of the loan proceeds that are […]
Posted on March 30, 2020 by Daniel R. Peters
Businesses often carry insurance to cover losses caused by a variety of events or perils. Restrictions, closures, whether voluntary or not, and policies related to COVID-19 are negatively impacting businesses and affecting bottom lines. As a result, business owners are asking whether they are insured for their losses due to COVID-19 like they might be […]
Posted on March 30, 2020 by Joseph M. Mella
Over the past two weeks, Governor Evers has continued, through the Department of Health Services, to issue Emergency Orders related to the COVID-19 health crisis. One area of his focus has been to restrict real estate landlords’ activities. In his now seemingly old Emergency Order #12 (from last week Tuesday, March 20!), that imposed the […]
Posted on March 27, 2020 by Sara J. Ackermann, Mary Ellen Schill, Benjamin E. Streckert, Amy E. Ebeling and Andrew P. Raymonds
After much negotiation over the past few days, President Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) into law, a $2 trillion stimulus package aimed at providing critical economic relief to Americans affected in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. Big Picture With a combination of direct payments, grants, loans […]
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