Bob has been a trusted advisor to entrepreneurs, closely held and family-owned businesses, private equity firms, and the capital sources who finance them for forty years.  He is both a counselor and advocate when quarterbacking merger and acquisition transactions from the deal structuring and letter of intent negotiation to the closing day document execution, through the post-closing implementation and follow-up

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Bob has served as general counsel for businesses as diverse as a national metals distributor, a publicly-held medical equipment leasing company, and a minor league sports team.  He advises clients on forming their businesses, in dealing with customer, supplier, lender and investor relationships, and in planning for and executing the recapitalization and transition of their businesses. 

Bob chaired the Connecticut Bar Association subcommittee that helped draft Connecticut’s original Limited Liability Company Act and he organized Connecticut's first limited liability company in 1993.  In preparing operating agreements and shareholder agreements that will guide the governance, operation and ownership of business entities, Bob often facilitates consensus building among prospective owners who may have diverse economic interests, risk tolerances, and time horizons.

Bob has presented to business and professional groups, including the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, the Association of Commercial Finance Attorneys and the Connecticut Turnaround Management Association on business formation, acquisition, financing and turnarounds. 

Clients have come to depend on Bob for his tenacity as their negotiator, his passion as their advocate, and his creativity and loyalty as their trusted advisor.

Representative Experience

• General Counsel to national steel distribution business, including representing its ownership group in the sale of the business to an international buyer.
• Counsel to privately-held printing business in connection with the restructuring of its balance sheet, including the negotiation of agreements with senior secured lender, subordinated secured lender, preferred investors, equipment lessors, and general creditors.
• General Counsel to family-owned retail business, including planning and documenting agreements for the transition and ownership to second-generation family members.
• General Counsel to minor league sports franchise, including representing its owners in connection with initial acquisition, operation and eventual sale to a major league affiliate.
• General Counsel to additive manufacturing business, including representing its entrepreneur-founder in connection with its formation and obtaining equity investor and bank financing.
• General Counsel to precision contract manufacturer, including negotiation of bank and state of Connecticut financing facilities.
• Counsel to owners of a privately-held equipment distribution business in connection with the sale of the business to a national distributor, including negotiation of complex earn-out provision.
• Counsel to NASDAQ traded public company in connection with its acquisition of private equity-owned equipment manufacturing company, including negotiation of a buyer-side representations and warranties insurance policy and a related bank financing facility.
• Counsel to company employee in connection with his acquisition of company from parent holding company, including negotiation of restructuring of financing with existing bank lending group.
• Counsel to entrepreneur in connection with an investment in, and ultimate acquisition of, a private golf course development.

Practice Areas

• Business Services

Admissions

• State of Connecticut

Education

• Boston University School of Law, J.D.
• Harvard University, B.A. (cum laude)

Professional & Community Involvement

• Connecticut Bar Association, Business Law Section
• American Bar Association
• Association of Commercial Finance Attorneys
• Turnaround Management Association

Honors & Awards

• AV^® Preeminent™ Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rated
• The Best Lawyers in America^® for Corporate Law (2023)

Publications & Speaking Engagements

• “Having Partners is Great; Having Disputes is Not,” Hartford Business Journal (September 29, 2003)
• “Buying Distressed Businesses: Navigating the Legal Minefield,” Hartford Business Journal (November 19, 2001)
• “The Letter of Intent as a Buying and Selling Tool,” Hartford Business Journal (October 30, 2000)
• “Tapping Into Your Company’s Value,” Reid and Riege Business Owners’ Webinar Series (February 2012)
• “The Business Owner’s Final Test...Being Prepared to Leave the Legacy You Want,” Reid and Riege Business Owners’ Webinar Series (December 2011)
• “Wolves at the Door: Doing Business in Today’s Tough Times,” Reid and Riege Breakfast Briefing Series (February 2009)
• “Selling the Family Business: Before the Dance Begins,” CBIA and UConn Family Business Program (May 2007)
• “The Science of Buying and Selling Businesses Profitably,” Hartford Business Journal (November 2003)
• “Forbearance Agreements: Overview and Issues,” Association of Commercial Finance Attorneys (April 2003)
• “Nonbankruptcy Issues in a Business Wind Down/Shutdown,” Association of Commercial Finance Attorneys (February 1991)

News

• Reid and Riege Attorneys Recognized as 2023 Best Lawyers in America® and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America™