Edwin T. Brondo, Jr. brings over 20 years of broad legal experience in business transactions, commercial lending, corporate law and planning, trusts and estate matters and litigation to the firm. He has a reputation for and prides himself on approaching every client situation with both practical business common sense and the highest degree of technical legal skill.
Ed has extensive experience representing lenders and borrowers in connection with all aspects and phases of commercial loan transactions, whether secured by real estate, accounts receivable, vehicles, or other collateral. He regularly represents both institutional and private lenders in all varieties of lending transactions, including specialty arrangements such as mezzanine financing and factoring. In addition to representing lenders in the closing of lending transactions, Ed also has substantial experience with workouts, collections and foreclosures, and routinely counsels lenders with respect to the handling of defaults, the negotiation of extension and forbearance agreements and other workout arrangements, the prosecution of foreclosure actions, the protection of their interests as creditors in bankruptcy court, and sales and dispositions of collateral.
Ed also regularly represents and counsels clients on a wide variety of business matters, including handling of mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and compliance issues, corporate intellectual property protection, commercial real estate transactions and general business contracts with vendors, distributors, employees and others. He represents clients ranging from start-ups to publicly traded companies across a broad range of industries, including manufacturing, distribution, service businesses and technology, with a focus on entrepreneurs and privately held small to middle market companies. His experience includes representing businesses in all types of merger and acquisition transactions, including asset purchases and stock purchases, as well as redemptions, partner buy-outs, restructurings and private equity transactions. Additionally, as a result of his strong business acumen, a background in economics and his practical approach, Ed also serves as general counsel to many businesses, providing counsel on various general business and corporate governance/planning matters, including entity choice, formation, negotiation and drafting of operative documents such as operating agreements, partnership agreements and shareholder agreements, and succession planning. Ed has also been particularly successful in mediating and creatively resolving partnership/business disputes, and has significant experience with a number of more specialized corporate matters, including advising clients on internet issues (terms of use, privacy policies, domain names, etc.), unfair trade practices/competition, product literature evaluation and revision, regulatory compliance for specialized businesses and corporate compliance programs, including providing compliance training on such matters as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other anti-bribery laws, ITAR, information and technology governance and e-Discovery.
Ed’s expertise in representing lenders and businesses is also augmented by significant litigation experience, having tried and arbitrated many cases before various courts and other administrative tribunals across the country earlier in his career. As a litigator, Ed has represented two of the three major U.S. automotive manufacturers, served as national trial counsel for several other large product manufacturers, and represented trade associations, businesses of all sizes, wholesale distributors, retail dealers, contractors, corporate executives, doctors, entrepreneurs and property owners in a wide variety of matters, including commercial litigation, contract disputes, intellectual property protection and prosecution, unfair trade practices/competition, product liability, property and land use matters, firing range litigation, employment and environmental matters, construction matters and insurance coverage disputes. As a result of his unique background, Ed regularly advises business clients with respect to practical, creative and proactive ways to prevent disputes, and successfully navigating the intersection between business and litigation whenever disputes are unavoidable.
Ed also advises clients on estate planning and represents clients in estate administration matters throughout New York and New Jersey, including probate, administration proceedings, will contests, will and trust reformation and estate litigation. In addition, Ed’s experience with estate planning coupled with his business and corporate experience makes him especially well-equipped to assist clients with various aspects of asset protection including dynasty planning and using and setting up corporate entities and trusts for asset protection purposes.
Prior to beginning his career in private practice, Ed served as a law clerk to the Honorable Louis C. Benza, Supreme Court of New York, Commercial Division, Albany County.
