Do I need a lawyer to buy or sell a small business?

Buying or selling a business often involves complex legal issues, including contracts, due diligence, financing, and risk allocation. A lawyer experienced in business acquisitions can help structure the transaction, identify potential problems, and guide the process through closing.

What is the first step if I want to buy a business?

A good first step is to talk with an experienced small business merger and acquisition lawyer about your goals, budget, and timeline. They can help you understand the process, review opportunities, and identify issues to watch for before you move forward.

What is the first step if I want to sell my business?

A good first step is to speak with an experienced advisor about how the sale process works and what issues may arise. Early planning can help business owners prepare their company for sale and avoid problems later in the transaction.

What types of business transactions do you handle?

Joel focuses on ownership transfers, including business sales, business acquisitions, partnership and LLC buyouts, and commercial real estate purchases, sales, and leases. He collaborates with business owners, investors, brokers, and entrepreneurs across Virginia.

Do you handle commercial real estate transactions?

Yes. Joel represents buyers and sellers in the purchase and sale of commercial real estate, including properties connected with business acquisitions and stand-alone commercial property transactions.

Do you represent both buyers and sellers in business transactions?

Yes. Joel represents both buyers and sellers in business acquisitions and sales. His experience on both sides of transactions helps him anticipate issues and guide clients through negotiations and the closing process.

Can you help with LLC, corporation, or partnership buyouts?

Yes. Joel advises business owners on buyouts among LLC members, corporate shareholders, and partners, including negotiating buyout terms, structuring the transaction, and documenting the transfer of ownership.

BUSINESS & commercial REAL ESTATE TRANsactions

Guiding you through the purchase, sale, or transfer
of your business and commercial real estate

Legal Services

navigating your deal

Business
Transactions

Buying a Business

When you find a business to buy, you are starting the legal process to reach closing.

Legal services focus on negotiating letters of intent, conducting legal due diligence, reviewing contracts and liabilities, negotiating seller financing, drafting and negotiating the purchase agreement to address risks discovered during due diligence, and managing the closing.

The objective is to help you complete the purchase with a clear understanding of what you are buying and how the transaction documents allocate risk.

Selling a Business

If you are preparing to sell your business, careful planning and disciplined execution can help preserve value and avoid costly surprises during the transaction process.

Legal services often begin with negotiating broker agreements, confidentiality agreements, and letters of intent. From there, the work typically involves reviewing and negotiating the purchase agreement, managing legal due diligence, preparing disclosure schedules, and addressing issues such as seller financing, noncompetition agreements, and post-closing obligations.

The goal is to help you move from an initial offer to a successful closing while protecting the value you have built in your business.

Other Ownership Transfers & Buyouts

Not all ownership transfers involve outside buyers. Many occur when co-owners decide to separate or when life events require a change in ownership.

These situations may include partner buyouts, succession planning within a family business, ownership changes resulting from retirement or divorce, deadlocks, or other disputes among co-owners that require an owner to exit the business.

Legal services focus on structuring the transfer, negotiating buyout terms, preparing the necessary agreements, and completing the ownership transition in an orderly and legally sound manner.

Commercial Real Estate Transactions

Buying or Selling Commercial Property

If you are buying or selling commercial property, the transaction typically moves through several stages, from contract negotiation through closing.

Legal services focus on drafting, reviewing, and negotiating purchase and sale agreements, reviewing title commitments and surveys, analyzing environmental reports, coordinating due diligence, and preparing the documents required for closing.

Throughout the process, the objective is to identify issues early, address risk in the transaction documents, and move the deal toward closing with clarity and discipline.

Commercial Leasing

Leasing commercial property requires careful attention to the allocation of risk and responsibility between landlord and tenant.

Legal services include drafting and negotiating lease agreements, reviewing proposed lease terms, and helping owners and tenants understand the legal and financial implications of the lease provisions they agree to.

Other Ownership Transfers & Buyouts

Not all real estate transfers involve third-party buyers. Many occur when co-owners decide to separate or when life events require a change in ownership.

These situations may include buyouts between partners, real estate transfers resulting from succession planning, ownership changes caused by divorce, deadlock, or other disputes among co-owners that require an owner to transfer their title interests in the property.

Legal services focus on structuring the transfer, negotiating buyout terms, preparing the necessary agreements, and completing the ownership transition in an orderly and legally sound manner.

Joel Ankney

Virginia Business & Commercial Real Estate Lawyer

Connect

c: 757.270.4088
e: joel@jalawoffice.com

Joel Ankney

Business & Commercial Real Estate Lawyer

Joel Ankney specializes in ownership transitions.

For more than three decades, Joel has helped business owners complete hundreds of asset and equity transactions across a wide range of industries. Those transactions have ranged from smaller, closely held business sales of approximately $50,000 to complex deals as large as $65 million.

In addition, Joel has also helped business owners and investors buy, sell, and lease commercial real estate throughout Virginia, including office buildings and condos, medical offices, manufacturing facilities, self-storage facilities, restaurants, retail shopping centers, industrial facilities, and vacant land.

Business owners have also relied on Joel to negotiate LLC, corporate, and partnership buyouts.

Joel focuses on strategies to de-escalate tense negotiations and close deals efficiently.

To enhance transaction literacy, Joel has published books that help business owners and entrepreneurs better understand the legal process of business transfers. As a result of the popularity of Joel's books, he has guest lectured at top business schools and on podcasts about Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA).

Joel graduated first in his law school class and then spent 12 years practicing at some of the country's largest law firms. In 2003, he founded his own law firm to provide small business owners with more affordable and efficient legal services.

EDUCATION

J.D. • William & Mary Law School

B.S. Organizational Psychology • Brigham Young University

Virginia

TRAINING & CERTIFICATION

Collaborative Law Certificate •

Basic Mediation Skills Training Certificate

BAR ADMISSION

appearances

Southeast Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (SEETA) Conference • Legal Panelist • University of Virginia

New Majority Capital • ETA Legal Panelist and Session Facilitator • Arlington, Virginia

University of Illinois Gies College of Business • ETA Class Guest Speaker