George D. Menden is a co-founding partner of MendenFreiman LLP. His practice focuses on the areas of business law, business tax planning, wealth planning, wills, trusts and asset protection. His expertise in highly complex midmarket transactions, combined with his extensive knowledge of business, tax and estate planning, provides his clients with world-class representation and wealth transfer strategies. George represents companies with domestic and international operations in manufacturing, distribution and service sectors. He often advises business clients throughout all stages of their development from business formation, growth, maturity and ultimately a sale, which results in financial freedom for his clients.
George began his career as a certified public accountant with Ernst & Young where he focused on the accounting and tax complexities of mergers and acquisitions. He then joined Alston & Bird in 1985 as a business transaction attorney. George is a frequent guest speaker on business, taxation and estate planning topics and previously served as the tax editor for Professional Excellence, a publication for dentists and orthodontists.
Representative Matters
• Constructed a sophisticated trust strategy to remove the owner’s 50 percent interest in a manufacturing and distribution company from the value of the estate. The company entered into a sale transaction with a private equity firm where the business sold for more than $50 million.
• Represented two individuals in the acquisition of a U.S. subsidiary of a public Canadian telecom company. The company was subsequently sold for 10 times the acquisition price.
• Secured the legacy for the wife of a commercial real estate business owner who had lost competence. By stabilizing the owner’s very substantial commercial real estate business through negotiation and sale of a significant real estate asset and recasting of the company, the remaining properties were made self-sufficient.
Awards and Recognition
• Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating – AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5
• Super Lawyers – 2007, 2009-2011
• Five Star Wealth Manager – 2007-2013
• Georgia Trend Legal Elite – 2010, 2012-2016
• Top Rated Lawyer – 2016
• Georgia Legal Leaders – 2016
