Firm Profile and Areas of Practice
Firm Profile:
Hopkins & Allison, A Professional Association, located in Little Rock, Arkansas, was
established in 1984. Since its inception, Hopkins & Allison has concentrated its practice
in areas involving business, commercial and financial matters. Hopkins &
Allison and its
attorneys have extensive experience in both litigation and non-litigation matters.
Hopkins & Allison has received the highest rating of "AV" from the
Martindale-Hubbell® Law Directory. The "A" portion of the rating is
awarded to attorneys with legal ability, as confidentially rated by other lawyers, as
"Very High to Preeminent". The "V" portion of the rating
signifies those attorneys that received a General Recommendation of "Very High".
Hopkins & Allison is also listed in the Martindale-Hubbell® Bar Register of
Preeminent Lawyers. Less than 5% of the lawyers in the United States are designated for
inclusion in the Bar Register.
Gregory M. Hopkins, the firm's principal, was recently selected as the "Best
Business Lawyer in Arkansas" in a poll of Arkansas lawyers conducted by The
Arkansas Times newspaper. The results are published in a June 30, 2000
cover story in The Arkansas Times entitled "Arkansas's Best
Lawyers." Mr. Hopkins was also a runner-up in the Best
Bankruptcy Lawyer category, the second time to receive such a recognition from a
statewide newspaper.
Hopkins & Allison is conveniently located at 1000 West Second Street in the downtown
Little Rock area. Hopkins & Allison occupies the restored Ward-Heiskell House (circa 1881),
a certified historical structure. With 4,400 square feet of office and conference space,
free off-street parking, and convenient access to major interstates and thoroughfares,
Hopkins & Allison offers convenient access for office conferences with clients and business
associates.
While occupying a historical structure over a century old, Hopkins &
Allison has
continued to upgrade its operational resources to keep pace with today's modern
technology. Hopkins & Allison operates a firm-wide computer network supporting the latest
generation of word-processing, legal research, financial and firm management applications,
as well as direct access to the Internet through its Web Site located at www.hopkinslawfirm.com. Hopkins
& Allison
maintains an extensive on-site legal and reference library consistent with the areas of
its practice.
Hopkins & Allison and its attorneys hold memberships in a number of professional
associations including the American Bar Association, the Arkansas Bar Association, the
Association of Trial Lawyers of America and the Central Arkansas Debtor-Creditor Bar.
Additionally, memberships are held in the Forum Committee on the Construction Industry of
the American Bar Association, the ABA Sub-Committee on Business Bankruptcy, and the ABA's
Sections on Business Law, Litigation, Taxation, and Science and Technology.
Areas of Practice:
Hopkins & Allison primarily concentrates its practice in matters involving business,
commercial and financial issues. Although focused upon the commercial and financial
aspects of the law, Hopkins & Allison takes a broad overview to legal engagements. Given
the complexities of today's business world, a legal matter involving one issue can raise
implications in a number of other seemingly unrelated areas. Hopkins &
Allison assists its
clients in dealing with such challenges by utilizing its broad experience in commercial
law.
Hopkins & Allison has experience in, and can assist clients in ,the following areas of
practice:
Commercial, Financial and Business Entity Law:
Whether a client is considering forming a corporation, limited liability company or other
entity, or needs assistance with ongoing activities in connection with an existing entity,
Hopkins & Allison provides advice and representation on these matters. Representation
includes formation activities, advice on ongoing operations, design and preparation of
buy-sell agreements between shareholders and other owners, and dissolution and "exit
strategy" planning. Litigation activities include disputes involving breach of
fiduciary duty, business fraud, breach of contract, etc.
Mergers and Acquisitions: Whether a
client is buying a business, selling a business, merging with a strategic partner, or
entering into any other similar relationship, Hopkins & Allison has the experience to
assist the client to complete a timely, relatively hassle-free, and cost effective
transaction. Hopkins & Allison has handled a wide variety of these types of transactions
ranging in size from small business sales involving less than $100,000 to complex
corporate acquisitions ranging into the millions of dollars.
Automotive Industry Issues: The legal
issues faced by businesses involved in the automotive manufacture, sales, repair, and
service industries involve unique and specialized challenges. Hopkins &
Allison is one of
Arkansas' leading law firms with experience in automotive industry issues. Representative
clients have included new car dealers, OEM and replacement parts manufacturers and
distributors, used car dealers, rental car agencies, automotive finance companies,
automotive licensees and franchisees, and similar business operations.
Limited Liability Company Issues: The
Limited Liability Company, or "LLC", is a relatively new type of business
organization that it rapidly becoming the entity of choice for many businesses, especially
small businesses and entities formed for the purpose of real estate development. Typically
described as a hybrid between a corporation and a partnership, the LLC provides an
outstanding planning opportunity for many clients. Hopkins & Allison has extensive
experience with LLCs, including multi-tiered LLCs, family LLCs, real estate
LLCs, foreign
LLCs and professional LLCs (also known as a "PLC" or a "PLLC").
Real Estate: No other area of the law is
more expansive or challenging than real estate. Real estate clients face such diverse
issues as title problems, environmental concerns, survey matters, ownership conflicts and
the like. Hopkins & Allison has experience in representing parties involved with
commercial, industrial, single-family residential, multi-family residential, condominium,
and development properties.
Construction Law and Litigation: The
issues involved in the preparation, interpretation and enforcement of construction
contracts require a unique knowledge of legal principles with the ability to grasp
concepts from related fields such as architecture, engineering, and finance. Hopkins
& Allison has assisted clients in virtually all aspects of construction law, including contract
preparation and interpretation, contract disputes, bonding issues and disputes,
construction litigation, mechanics' and materialmen's issues, mediation and arbitration.
Estate Planning and Probate: Hopkins
& Allison regularly provides its clients with estate planning services including preparation of
wills and trusts, estate tax counseling, advice on durable powers of attorneys and living
will/healthcare proxy arrangements, living trust consultation, children's trusts and
similar activities. Hopkins & Allison also has experience in simple and complex probate
administration including post-mortem estate planning, use of disclaimers and surviving
spouse's elections, and estate tax return preparation.
Business Planning: As a full-service law
firm, Hopkins & Allison specializes in assisting its clients with short-term and long-term
business planning. Working closely with the client and other professionals such as the
client's accountants, insurance professionals, investment advisers, and real estate
professionals, Hopkins & Allison can assist a client in such business planning activities
as capital structure analysis, loan refinancings, recapitalizations, corporate
restructures, negotiation of buy-sell agreements and the development of succession and/or
exit strategy upon the business owner's death or retirement.
Bankruptcy: Due to the complexities of
the federal bankruptcy laws, any party who becomes directly or indirectly involved in a
bankruptcy proceeding needs experienced bankruptcy counsel. Hopkins &
Allison has been
involved in hundreds of bankruptcy proceedings in Arkansas and the surrounding states,
representing secured creditors, unsecured creditors, creditors' committees, bondholder
committees, trustees and debtors.
Intellectual Property Issues:
Intellectual Property Law involves a wide range of subjects including trademarks and trade
names, patents, and copyrights. The fields of trade secrets and unfair competition are
also closely related. Hopkins & Allison has experience in providing advice and counsel to
clients in these areas as well as litigation experience in the areas of trade secrets,
franchises, unfair competition, trademark/trade name disputes, and patent infringement.
Commercial Litigation: If a business
dispute results in litigation, special skills are required from a trial lawyer. Hopkins
& Allison has successfully handled hundreds of commercial litigation matters ranging all
the way from simple motion hearings and non-jury trials to complex appellate proceedings
and multi-day and multi-week jury trials.
Commercial Collection Services: Although
not a collection law firm, Hopkins & Allison provides collection litigation services to its
regular commercial clients as part of the full service commitment to these business
clients.
Referral Services: As a business and
financial law firm, Hopkins & Allison generally does not accept cases involving criminal
matters, divorce or other domestic issues, personal injury, or civil rights. However,
Hopkins & Allison does provide referral service for its existing clients to competent
counsel who can handle matters in these areas
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