Gielow Groom Terpstra & McEvoy’s Muskegon law firm has experienced attorneys with a broad and diverse knowledge base in the commercial issues facing their Michigan manufacturing clients. We believe that manufacturing is important to our state’s economic vitality because it accounts for such a significant portion of Michigan’s economic production.

Our dedicated Muskegon attorneys will go above and beyond to assist our manufacturing clients in all areas, including:

  • Selection of entity status
  • Acquisition of site, plant, equipment, and processes
  • Contracting with outside vendors and customers
  • Management of the human resources component of the business
  • Assessment of environmental risks
  • Protection of trade secrets through non-compete, non-disclosure, and other agreements
  • Development of plans to sell or transition ownership of the company

Our attorneys have litigated numerous manufacturers’ sales representative cases and drafted and negotiated “Sales Rep” contracts. While we understand the importance of product distribution and market penetration – which can be greatly enhanced with contract representatives – we also appreciate the risk of terminating such outside personnel and understand the financial issues stemming from sales representative litigation.

Our team of Muskegon attorneys has a thorough knowledge of the Uniform Commercial Code, which is the driver of all “terms and conditions” of Requests for Quotes, and Purchase Orders, involved in the purchase and sale of goods. We understand the various kinds of warranties arising under the UCC and contract and how to properly limit or cap warranty liability exposure. We can assist manufacturers in drafting and reviewing the “boilerplate” of standard agreements. We have seen all too often that careful drafting of a contract’s terms and conditions can avoid or limit a client’s exposure to huge damages, which frequently arise in the world of manufacturing.

Manufacturing can pose special risks to the environment. Our attorneys have dealt with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy and the United States EPA for decades and know the agency representatives who inspect and monitor manufacturers in this area. We can assist in satisfying your compliance issues, reporting obligations, and minimizing cleanup costs and liability to third parties and the State.

Our attorneys can protect trade secrets and proprietary information and have litigated these issues in state and federal courts. Our business attorneys have drafted and negotiated agreements to protect employers’ valuable intellectual property rights. We carefully tailor non-disclosure agreements and confidentiality agreements to prevent employees and outside vendors from stealing an employer’s net worth through corporate piracy.

Our law firm has assisted molders in protecting their financial investments in tools, dies, and molds and understand how the Molder’s Lien Act really works. We provide the forms and counseling to protect Michigan molders from customers who do not pay their bills or who face bankruptcy.

We understand that contracts are the life-blood of manufacturing. Our lawyers are skillful drafters and can quickly review contracts and contract proposals to best protect our clients’ interests. Should your contract be breached, our litigation team can go to court to protect your rights and recover damages from the breaching party. We also have defended numerous companies who are unjustly sued.

We can assist in providing legal assistance in employment issues, including how to properly terminate a problem employee to best avoid a suit. Our Muskegon lawyers have counseled numerous employers who have faced employee problems, discrimination issues, and hostile work environment claims and successfully resolved these issues to our clients’ satisfaction, both in and out of the courtroom.

We understand that improving your bottom line does not mean improving ours by providing unnecessary services. We are happy to quote fixed fees for many of our services in this industry sector.