John Legaré Williams, Esquire
john@trustwilliams.com
p. 302-575-0873 | f. 302-575-0925
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Practice Areas
Trust and estate planning, administration, and litigation.
Delaware business law:
- Delaware incorporation and LLC formation,
- Business succession planning,
- Contract drafting and negotiation,
- Corporate governance,
- General Counsel,
- Business partner separation disputes,
- Delaware LLC opinion letters for United States real estate transactions, and
- Business litigation regarding valuation, mismanagement, and obtaining records;
- Nationally recognized on Delaware Series LLC law; and
- Corporate bankruptcy adversary proceedings, defending voidable preference claims.
Representative Cases/Clients
- Favorable post-trial settlement after a 4-day trial in the Court of Chancery. This case analyzed Delaware corporate law on issues such as breaches of fiduciary duty and business valuation.
- Represented:
- Medical device company,
- Newspaper publisher,
- Large equipment manufacturer,
- Mining equipment repair company,
- Former professional athlete,
- Famous musicians,
- Food processing company,
- Scientific instrument company,
- Executives,
- Medical Doctors,
- Certified Professional Accountants,
- Mobile App businesses,
- Film Producers,
- Entrepreneurs, and
- Non-profits.
Professional Affiliations
- President of Agents and Corporations, Inc., a Delaware incorporation and registered agent service that serves 16,000 Delaware LLCs and Delaware corporations under management, including Pinterest, Inc.
- ABA Advisor to National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (ULC) on the Series of Unincorporated Business Entities Act Drafting Committee (Uniform Series LLC Act).
- Chair of American Bar Association’s Committee on Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies in the Special Investors and Investment Structure Group of the Real Property, Trusts and Estates Section.
- Barrister Member of Richard S. Rodney Inn of Court.
Civic Engagements
- President, Wilmington Rowing Center.
- Appointed by Governors Minner, Markell, and Carney to the Delaware Natural Areas Advisory Council. Previous chairman. Previously served on Delaware State Parks Council.
- Assistant Coach, University of Delaware Men’s Club Crew (See News Journal article “The Oars of Justice” from November 11, 2003).
- President, One Commerce Center Condo Council, which manages an 11-story commercial office building.
- Founder, Christina Navy Ltd., an entity that promotes boating safety.
- Membership Chair, Society of Colonial Wars, Delaware Chapter, including duties as state genealogist and state registrar.
- Vice Chair, Downtown YMCA (Wilmington, DE).
- President, Christina Conservancy.
- Vice Chair, 18th Representative District Committee of Delaware.
- Director, Delaware Founders Initiative.
- Former Director, Wilmington Youth Rowing Association.
- Former Council Member, Delaware Division of Parks and Recreation.
- Former Chairman, Kalmar Nyckel Foundation.
Presentations, Publications & Contributions
- Presented National Hot Topics call for the American Bar Association (“ABA”) on the Delaware Series LLC.
- Presented Fundamentals 2.0 call for the ABA’s Real Property, Trust and Estates Group (“RPTE”), March 23, 2016.
- Authored Rural Metro: Gulping Advisors and Practitioner Guidance article in the ABA’s Business Law Today periodical, January 2016.
- Presented National CLE webinar for National Business Institute (“NBI”) on Delaware LLC Agreements: Planning and Drafting Approaches: Evaluating and Leveraging the Contractual Flexibility Afforded by the Delaware LLC Act.
- Presented National CLE webinar for NBI on Series LLCs: Drafting Operating Agreements.
- Quoted in February 2, 2016 article titled “Zuckerbergs chose Delaware-based LLC for Chan Zuckerberg Initiative” by the Delaware Business Times.
- IncNow Blog.
- Drafted Series LLC and Delaware LLC Agreements for publication in the Limited Liability Company Handbook 2008-2009, 2011-2012, 2015-2016.
- Expert in New York case involving a Delaware Series LLC.
- Expert witness for Office of Public Advocacy of Alaska in litigation involving a Delaware Series LLC, which owned 40 parcels of real estate (Genesis Properties LLC vs. McDowell).
- Presented twice to the Delaware Real Estate Investor’s Association (DelREIA)on the use of LLCs and Series LLC in real estate transactions.
- Panelist on CLE seminar presented at the ABA’s RPTE Group Symposia on Drafting LLC Agreements in Real Estate Transactions.
- Presented “Intellectual Property and Choice of Entity” seminar, organized by theSmall Business Administration (Delaware).
- Presented seminar on avoiding common legal mistakes for the University of Delaware Horn Program in Entrepreneurship – New Venture Development Center.
- Presented an in-house continuing professional education seminar to Gunnip & Company LLP (Certified Public Accounting firm) on LLC law in Delaware.
- Lectured for eight National Business Institute seminars on continuing education for attorneys regarding special uses of Delaware LLCs and the Series LLC.
- Lectured at Sterling Education Seminar on Estate Planning – Advanced Trust Topics and Elder Law.
- Lectured at the Delaware Trust Conference, sponsored by Delaware Bankers Association.
- Lectured to Advisors on choice of entity for the Small Business Development Center.
- Guest lectured for senior seminar on small business at the University of Delaware.
- Interviewed regarding international foreign money judgment recognition byDelaware Law Weekly.
- Quoted in June 9, 2008 article on “State-Federal Tussle on Beneficial Owners” by Compliance Weekly.
- Interviewed by Swiss National Public Television (regarding Delaware corporate and LLC law’s international advantages) for an entrepreneurial program broadcast throughout German-speaking Europe.
- Interviewed by NBC Miami through NBC Philadelphia’s studios and rebroadcast later on NBC’s Today Show and Dateline NBC.
- Interviewed by China Business News and Xinhua News Agency (Official China News).
