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MANUFACTURING

With a history spanning more than a century-and-a-half representing manufacturers, our attorneys have the range and the depth you need, no matter what you produce.

Our country depends on its manufacturers. Manufacturers depend on counsel who understand their goals and challenges.

Providing legal counsel to manufacturers means covering vastly diverse manufacturing specialties, as well as the full spectrum of legal services. If you are engaged in manufacturing, your legal requirements run the full gamut, from financing your business to its daily operation; from protecting your intellectual property to managing your workforce; and from complying with seemingly endless regulations to successfully defending against litigation. For clients just like this and just like your organization, Buchanan is there every step of the way.

Our manufacturing clients range from global Fortune 500 companies to start-ups. Because of our multidisciplinary approach and proven track record, many of our manufacturing clients have been with us for decades. In fact, some rely on us completely as their outside legal department, covering all of their legal needs – sometimes even serving as on-site counsel in their facilities. Clients also tell us they retain us for precision execution on key matters.

From our firm's rich history representing coal-related manufacturers, through today's tremendous growth of natural gas and natural gas liquids as fuels and feedstocks, our energy attorneys' experience representing clients in the oil and gas industry has proven invaluable to our manufacturing clients in the chemicals, petrochemicals, plastics and other sectors when arranging financing, negotiating agreements, complying with regulations, defending litigation and more.

No stranger to accolades, our attorneys consistently receive honors from Chambers USA, U.S. News & World Report, and many other trusted national and regional attorney ranking publications.

We’ve worked with clients in many manufacturing industries, including:

Chemicals, including many petrochemicals

Metals and metal fabrication

Commercial construction

Cement and minerals

Defense and aeronautics

Agriculture

Consumer Products

Robotics

Mining

 

Transactional

Like any business, your success as a manufacturer depends on the transactions in which you engage, from financing and growing your business to your day-to-day operations. We are ready to assist you with acquiring credit facilities, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, securities compliance, purchase and sale agreements, licensing agreements and all of the other transactions on which your business depends.

Litigation

We’ve consistently earned a “Tier 1” ranking from U.S. News & World Report for our litigation practice. Our veteran litigators have spent decades trying complex cases in court. We are known internationally, nationally, regionally and locally for successes in high-stakes and bet-the-company cases, ground-breaking class actions, multi-district litigation, mass tort and other sophisticated litigation in federal and state trial and appellate courts and before administrative agencies and arbitration panels.

Chemicals, Petrochemicals & Metals Industries

While our attorneys are well known for their work across the many manufacturing sectors, two sectors deserve special mention: chemicals and metals.

Chemicals

If you research, develop and/or produce chemical products in or for any industry, our multidisciplinary teams can represent you across the full spectrum of your legal needs.

In the chemicals manufacturing industry, we have assisted clients in such specialties as:

  • Petrochemicals and derivatives, including:
    polypropylene, styrene, polystyrene, base
    chemicals and polyethylene
  • Materials chemistry
  • Pharmaceutical chemistry
  • Agricultural chemistry
  • Electro-chemistry
  • Physical inorganic chemistry
  • Polymer chemistry
  • Coating compositions
  • Nanotechnology
  • Water purification
  • Food additives
  • Chemical and biomolecular engineering
  • Photographic and lithographic chemistry
  • Fragrance and hair products 

Metals

Like our experience in the chemicals industry, we have similar long experience in every area of metals production and fabrication. Our attorneys have assisted clients with matters ranging from mergers and acquisitions to labor relations, from antitrust concerns to OSHA compliance, and much more. Companies we have represented in this sector include manufacturers of:

  • Specialty steels and tool steels
  • Specialty metal components
  • Fabricated specialty metals
  • Premium specialty alloys
  • Titanium mill products 
  • Mill-scale specialty alloys
  • Architectural insulated metal panels
  • Rail products
  • Powdered metal parts
  • Materials for alloy research 

Labor & Employment

Labor and employment counsel is a critical legal requirement for manufacturers. From business growth and labor management strategies to regulatory compliance, we are here to help you with the full range of labor and employment issues. With more than 50 practice-specific lawyers, our labor and employment team is one of the largest and most respected within full-service law firms. Several of our attorneys having experience working for companies in HR and labor relations positions, so we have first-hand understanding of the challenges you face every day.

Intellectual Property

Manufacturers thrive on innovation and depend on the protection of their intellectual property. While patent protection is all that many firms can do for you, we do much more. In addition to our award-winning patent prosecution and post-issuance practices, we offer complete strategic patent counseling, licensing and technology transfer, risk reduction strategies, validity, and infringement counsel and representation. Many of our team of more than 60 attorneys and other professionals have advanced degrees in science and technology – in such fields as biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, electrical and computer science, mechanical, materials science and many more. Many have served as examiners in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and have worked in industry as scientists, engineers and in-house IP legal counsel.

Environmental

Many manufacturers have to be concerned with environmental challenges, such as environmental cost recovery, permitting and regulatory compliance, and other environmental matters. Manufacturers are subject to federal, state and local environmental regulations that are constantly changing. We help you to conduct your business successfully - while complying with these regulations - by providing you with a team that combines technical know-how and practical judgment. We have first-hand experience on all sides of environmental regulation and enforcement. In fact, some of us have served as regulators and as prosecutors.