Seale & Ross serves as litigation counsel for national corporations, local and state governmental bodies, and for businesses, professionals and individuals on the North Shore. Our practice includes state and federal courts and administrative agencies. We also serve as general counsel for companies with multi-state business activities, managing litigation in other jurisdictions through selection and supervision of local counsel. Our firm has litigators who are licensed to practice in Louisiana’s state and federal courts, and in Texas and Mississippi and other jurisdictions as well. Effective advocacy requires more than just courtroom skill, although such skill is indisputably necessary. Every good law firm knows how to try a lawsuit; the best ones know how to avoid litigation, or if it is unavoidable, how to manage it to a successful conclusion, minimizing the overall cost to the client. Business Advice We take seriously the role of "counselor" to our business clients. Our business clients include small and medium sized construction companies, mercantile, manufacturing, and service companies, and practitioners in law, medicine, architecture and engineering. Special attention is given to the problems of "Mom & Pop" business owners who often face difficult legal and business problems without the staff and support that larger companies enjoy. We assist our clients in matters of banking, financial management, personnel law, risk assessment, and in the general areas of contract preparation and review, mergers and acquisitions and ownership transfers within family businesses. Personal Planning Individuals and business entities face decisions from time-to-time which require the application of technical legal knowledge combined with judgment and experience. In no area is this more important than in preparing wills and trusts to manage our clients' affairs, protect their heirs, minimize their estate tax burdens, and provide continuity to their family businesses. Planning of this type often requires a multidisciplinary approach, collaborating with the CPA, the banker or financial advisor, and the insurance professional to develop a plan which is integrated, complete, and wise. Management of Bundled Tasks Our lawyers are often entrusted with accomplished complex projects comprised of interlocking technical tasks with tight time frames and budget constraints. Examples include closing commercial loan transactions with banks; completing tax-free exchanges of real estate; designing, negotiating and closing mergers and aquisitions of businesses; creating leases and lease hold financial instruments; negotiating buy-sell agreements among co-owners; and closing public finance bond issues for public entities or their economic development entities. These projects require lawyers to understand transactions from the top down, so they can be executed with precision from the bottom up.