At Baker Botts, our Family Offices practice is dedicated to serving high-net-worth families and their professional teams with comprehensive skill. Our approach fosters long-term relationships, often spanning generations, built equally on trust and results. By providing a one-stop shop for family office needs, we help our clients reach their goals efficiently and effectively. At Baker Botts, we go beyond providing legal advice; we collaborate with family offices to protect and grow their legacy. Our team is prepared to navigate the complexities of family office management with a strategic and thoughtful approach.
Our cross-practice team guides family offices through estate and tax planning, including creating wills, trusts and family succession plans. Our lawyers engage in a wide range of matters for the businesses managed by a family office. As these businesses expand, mature or are sold, we oversee a variety of responsibilities, from real estate and labor and employment matters to intellectual property matters and dispute resolution. Clients also benefit from our experience in navigating the legal nuances of specialty assets such as aircraft, yachts, and art.
We have a strong focus on assisting family offices in developing appropriate governance and investment structures and business succession plans. Our lawyers assist family offices in forming entities and structuring their operations, addressing issues such as internal governance, allocation of investments and compliance with federal and state investment adviser regulations, anti-money laundering rules, sanctions, and antitrust regulations. We help clients establish private trust companies and family investment vehicles and execute plans to facilitate succession from one generation to the next. Our involvement often spans two or three generations (or more) and helps provide the stability and continuity that families need. We work with both single and multi-family office structures.
We also have experience in executing asset management and investment strategies for family offices. We help establish relationships with financial advisers, custodians, administrators and other third parties, preparing and negotiating investment management, custody, and administrative services agreements. We review and help prepare documents for investments in private equity and hedge funds and other alternative investments. We work on co-investments and direct investments for family offices, covering the full life cycle from acquisitions to dispositions or other realization transactions. Additionally, we manage internal reorganizations, a common need for large family offices, which can involve intricate tax planning and entity restructuring. Our tax lawyers are experienced in structuring (i) complex and creative carried interest and incentive fee arrangements and series LLC/limited partnership structures for family office investment vehicles, (ii) arrangements that maximize the deductibility of management, brokerage and similar fees and expenses and (iii) purchases of aircraft and yachts in a manner that minimizes sales and other transfer taxes.
Our practice is distinguished by its wide range and depth. We have skilled tax and fiduciary litigators who focus on state and federal issues, IRS audits, Tax Court proceedings, and trial and appellate work. These capabilities allow us to support our family office clients through every stage, from initial planning to resolving complex disputes, whether in litigation or otherwise. We help our clients implement document retention policies based on best practices and advise them on important attorney-client privilege considerations. This level of integrated service makes us a trusted advisor for family offices across various industries.
