Routinely, we assist parents in creating guardianship provisions to care for the person and property of a minor child in the event of a parent’s death or disability.
Health law requires precision maneuvering in order to meet the needs of both large and small healthcare providers, while adhering to the myriad of state and federal statutes and regulations that govern the field. Our lawyers routinely handle issues involving Medicare fraud and abuse, billing and reimbursement, clinical research and trials, contracting, corporate governance, medical staff matters, joint ventures, labor and employment, mergers and acquisitions, patient privacy, professional licensing, credentialing and discipline, regulatory compliance, risk management, recruitment/retention arrangements, sales and leases of real estate and medical equipment, and tax exempt-entities.
We offer our services to all large and small businesses, and public and private entities, including physician practices, real estate developers, construction companies, banks, insurance companies, hotel developers and operators, waste management companies, petroleum suppliers and local government. We advise and handle a broad range of matters, including corporate governance issues, shareholder agreements, joint venture agreements, financing issues, licensing issues, trademarks, business tax issues, business succession planning, general contractual matters, and business dissolutions.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Business Formation
Essentially, our law firm can serve health care businesses in all traditional aspects of business law, from business formation, to transactions, to dissolution. However, armed with a long history of representing a diverse client base of health providers, we are also adept at assisting clients with business and legal issues unique to the healthcare field. Our lawyers strive to balance regulatory compliance, sound business practices and excellence in patient care.
Business Disputes
Our firm’s experience in business law, contracts, real property, commercial development, local government, banking and finance, tax-exempt organizations, and grants enables us to assist these clients efficiently.
Business Transactions
Clement Wheatley has decades of experience effectively handling a variety of business matters for our clients. From the initial formation of a business, to developing policies and growth strategies, to commercial transactions, our attorneys strive to understand and to achieve the goals of our business clients.
Our firm represents small and large businesses in a variety of matters involving employment law and human resources. Our primary objective is to assist our clients in maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with their employees and mitigate and manage risks. Whether for an emerging or long-established business, our firm takes great care to adapt to the unique needs of each client. We assist clients with the development and analysis of employee manuals and policies, employment contracts, and noncompetition and nonsolicitation agreements.
Employment Litigation
For employment disputes, we advise and as necessary, litigate employee discrimination claims, EEOC complaints, unemployment benefit challenges, contract and tort claims, and ADA/ADEA claims. We endeavor to utilize unique strategies to promote early resolution or dismissal of these claims; however, in the event that these strategies do not dispose of the litigation, we diligently prepare each case for trial through conclusion, always being mindful of overall costs. We work hard, advocating for our clients and protecting their interests.
Real estate and land use is the most established and experienced practice area at our firm. For decades, we have handled complicated residential and commercial real estate matters. Routinely, we assist clients with multi-million dollar acquisitions, sales and development; financing; commercial leasing and operations; shopping center and mall operations; access easements; conservation easements; tax- deferred exchanges; condominium regimes; property owner associations; neighborhood development; construction permits; construction contracting; commercial title insurance procurement; joint ventures; grants and tax incentives; and zoning.
Construction Litigation
Some common types of business and commercial litigation disputes include breach of contract, trade secret litigation, employment disputes, business torts, fiduciary disputes, commercial real estate disputes, purchase and sale disputes, and construction disputes.
Persons and families sometimes suffer injuries, both personal and financial in nature. Clement Wheatley has decades of experience representing clients in significant personal injuries of varying nature. Our team has the skill and experience to take the matter from investigation through trial. The cost of treatment, rehabilitation and recovery from a serious personal injury can be enormous. Mindful of those costs, we work hard to obtain early resolution through negotiation, targeted discovery, and mediation. In the event such strategies do not result in a satisfactory outcome for our clients, we are also prepared to diligently represent our clients through trial. We strive to accommodate the scheduling of prompt consultations and to minimize the stress of conflict and litigation. Our team is dedicated to standing with our clients from the beginning stages of their claims through resolution. Some of the areas we have represented clients in pursuit or defense of personal injury claims are as follows...
In terms of trust and estate administration, our attorneys take great care to see that the wishes of the decedent are carried out accordingly. Our clients appreciate our ability to handle tax returns and all other aspects, particularly in cases involving valuable assets.
Wills
It’s a delicate matter with obvious emotional undertones, but we can provide the experience and empathy to help you leave the legacy you want and deserve. The drafting and formation of wills and trusts requires a long view down the track to navigate the twists and turns in front of you now, and those your loved ones might have to navigate in the future. We use our expertise in the intricacies of the law as well as our experience to straighten out the road and ensure a smooth course.
Trusts
Our trusts and estates practice group is very experienced in estate planning and estate administration, from modest sized estates to those worth in excess of $100 million. We strive to learn about our clients, their families and beneficiaries in order to finely tailor a unique estate plan that protects and promotes what is important to them. For some, an estate plan focuses on the avoidance of capital gains and estate taxes. For others, it is about providing financial security to loved ones who are vulnerable by age, disability, indebtedness, or struggling marriages; accomplishing a transfer of wealth; making it easier on their survivors to manage the estates they leave behind at death; making charitable gifts; or simply disposing their assets in an orderly fashion.
Power of Attorney
Related to estate planning are the management of assets and the health, support and maintenance of clients. We use a variety of techniques and strategies that take into account the unique needs of our clients and their families. For example, to avoid costly guardianship proceedings for clients who may become disabled, we can prepare a springing durable general power of attorney that only comes into effect when a doctor certifies a client’s disability. We can prepare documents that empower an attorney-in-fact or trustee to exercise broad or very limited powers to manage a client’s business affairs. For healthcare decisions when clients are physically or mentally unable to make them, we can prepare documents that express their wishes on treatment, evaluation, admission to healthcare facilities, and end-of-life decisions. Recognizing that a majority of our clients reside in Southern Virginia, our documents are geared for use in not only Virginia, but also North Carolina.
Darren is a member of the Virginia State Bar and North Carolina State Bar. He is admitted to practice in all Virginia and North Carolina Bankruptcy Courts and regularly handles bankruptcy matters for creditors in both states. He is also a member of the Danville Bar Association. Virginia Business Magazine has recognized Darren as “Legal Elite” in bankruptcy law. He was also named to the Virginia Super Lawyers list in creditor debtor rights.
Foreclosure
Our team represents individual creditors, lenders, and businesses in Virginia and North Carolina. We frequently conduct pre-litigation debt collection practices, assist lenders with loan workouts, handle lawsuits to reduce delinquent accounts to judgment, conduct post-judgment enforcement actions to collect judgments, and conduct foreclosure sales of residential and commercial real estate in Virginia and North Carolina. Our team has licensed attorneys who practice in Virginia and North Carolina state courts. Our team is proficient in its understanding of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, and similar federal and state laws, and how they can impact our clients’ rights and claims. We often assist with...
Tax Law
Harry is active in the community, having served on the Board of Directors of the Danville Chapter of the American Red Cross as chairman and president, The Danville Speech and Hearing Center, Danville Estate Planning Council, The Community Tax Law Project, Danville Community College Educational Foundation, Inc., and the Danville Area Humane Society, and as an adjunct faculty member at Danville Community College and Averett University.