Closely Held Business Primer 2025
Entity essentials for family businesses
A client comes to your office with questions about formalizing their family business, but you’re not a business lawyer. Should they form a corporation or a partnership? What structure makes the most sense for their goals, risks, and long-term plans? If you don’t regularly advise clients on business entities, it can be hard to know where to start.
The Closely Held Business Primer provides a concise and beginner-friendly introduction to the core features of closely held corporations, LLCs, and partnerships—especially as they’re used in family business settings.
Entity essentials for family businesses
A client comes to your office with questions about formalizing their family business, but you’re not a business lawyer. Should they form a corporation or a partnership? What structure makes the most sense for their goals, risks, and long-term plans? If you don’t regularly advise clients on business entities, it can be hard to know where to start.
The Closely Held Business Primer provides a concise and beginner-friendly introduction to the core features of closely held corporations, LLCs, and partnerships—especially as they’re used in family business settings.
You’ll learn how to:
- Identify who calls the shots and who shares the profits in LLCs, partnerships, and corporations
- Understand each entity’s approach to profit distribution and tax treatment
- Determine how entity selection impacts family business operations, ownership, and continuity
- Recommend an appropriate structure based on client goals, family dynamics, and succession plans
Lay the foundation for success with a better understanding of business structures from the Closely Held Business Primer.
Product details
- Gain a working understanding of how different business entity types operate
- Identify key governance issues that affect decision-making and control within each structure
- Anticipate tax implications and governance concerns before they become problems
- Offer clients tailored guidance on choosing an entity that aligns with their goals
- Communicate more effectively with business attorneys and tax advisors
- Strengthen your ability to serve clients whose legal needs span multiple areas of law
- Business lawyers
- Labor and employment lawyers
- Solo and small firm practitioners
- Young lawyers
- General practitioners
This primer is the perfect lead-in to the 10th Annual Closely Held Business Update, where you’ll dig into real-world scenarios involving trust planning, fiduciary duties, and multigenerational ownership strategies. Attend both programs to get the full picture, from entity formation to long-term stewardship.