Much Shelist: broad experience, focused guidance.
Full-service, Chicago-based business law firm.

Value-Added Services

The Much Shelist commitment to client service takes several forms, including the development of creative, value-added approaches to client matters. We deliver legal services designed to meet client needs more cost-effectively, through prevention strategies, customized billing and alternatives to traditional litigation. Since the founding of the firm, we have maintained an organizational structure that is lean and efficient, yet fully prepared and able to respond to after-hours, weekend and emergency requests. By assigning the right attorney to the right matter at the right time, our clients receive the best representation possible while controlling costs over the long run.

Our value-added services include:

Alternate Fee Arrangements. Much Shelist is committed to open and creative partnerships with our clients, especially when dealing with fees and billings. As a firm, we understand the importance of giving our attorneys the flexibility to tailor our agreements to individual clients and their needs. We also believe that many traditional fee arrangements reward inefficiency.

At Much Shelist, we prefer to develop service agreements that reward efficiency; for example, as litigators, we have developed numerous contingency- and result-based fee arrangements that align our interests more closely with those of our clients. These include blended, task-based, contingent and discount/premium rates, as well as retainer-based fees.
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Bankruptcy Risk Assessment. In addition to our more typical work on behalf of debtors, lenders, creditors, trustees and other parties involved with financially troubled businesses, we often collaborate with attorneys from our Business & Finance group to help financially healthy clients identify potential issues that, with early action, may help prevent problems down the road.

Our vast experience with distressed and insolvent companies enables us to effectively advise clients on the long-term effects of agreements, contracts, credit applications and other transactions. We are keenly aware of the signs and circumstances that may trigger financial problems, and regularly help renegotiate and rewrite documents and court filings, assess financing options, and audit other initiatives in order to help clients increase their chances for business success.
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Client Surveys. Every Much Shelist attorney is dedicated to providing clients with the best possible legal service. One of the hallmarks of this commitment to service is our client survey process, by which we identify ways our firm can enhance performance through improved practices and processes. Each month, a senior principal of the firm visits with one to two clients to collect information on the level of client satisfaction, to learn how Much Shelist can best address the client's evolving legal needs, and to answer client questions about the firm.
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Extensive Network. No business, including Much Shelist, operates in a vacuum. Clients expect lawyers to act as business advisers, as well as legal advisers. Bringing people together is an important aspect of our relationship with clients.

The attorneys of Much Shelist are part of an extensive, informal network of professionals from throughout the Midwest, including investment bankers, consultants, accounting firms, lenders, institutional investors, management companies, title companies, zoning boards, and other individuals and organizations. By understanding the unique objectives of each of these parties, we are often able to provide clients with specific contacts and introductions that enable them to achieve their goals — quickly and effectively.
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Holistic Litigation. Holistic litigation is a multi-disciplinary, coordinated approach to legal services that blends the knowledge and insights of corporate and commercial attorneys with those of experienced litigators — all with an eye toward preventing disputes and resolving them quickly and cooperatively. Rather than relegating legal responsibilities into discrete silos, holistic litigation brings the right attorneys into each stage of the process. This broad oversight helps minimize the possible long-term consequences of making short-term or shortsighted decisions.

When disputes do arise, holistic attorneys help clients and their counterparts shift the focus from the dispute itself to the goals behind the dispute. Rather than seeking "win-lose" solutions, participants concentrate on developing solutions that satisfy all parties and avoid the "lose-lose" scenarios that can occur with unwanted compromise.

Holistic litigation is not a short-term or one-time event; rather, it is a long-term process that requires a shift in traditional attitudes and a commitment to the benefits of rational decision-making at every turn. The result? Fewer disputes, faster resolution and — ultimately — lower legal costs.
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Legal Check-Up™. All businesses are subject to at least one universal rule: things change. Economic conditions fluctuate, markets cycle up and down, laws are enacted and repealed — and businesses grow and develop.

The attorneys of Much Shelist understand that the challenges of managing day-to-day operations often distract business leaders from long-term planning and decision-making. Over time, strategic choices and policies that once made perfect sense can become increasingly detached from current business and legal realities — in some cases, putting you and your company at risk.

To help business leaders stay on track with their companies' needs, Much Shelist's Business & Finance attorneys have developed the Legal Check-Up™. The questionnaire covers nearly every legal aspect of owning and operating a business. The Legal Check-Up™ will help you identify areas that need your attention, including potential risks, overlooked opportunities for business growth and improved efficiencies.
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Litigation Avoidance Counseling. As experienced litigators, our attorneys understand many of the business dynamics and other factors that can lead to an increased risk of litigation. We work with clients to review contracts, analyze business decisions, determine appropriate legal structures, review financial, vendor, customer and joint venture agreements, and assess a broad range of other legal and business choices, all with an eye toward proactively identifying and preventing situations that may lead to future disputes.
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Representation in the Global Marketplace. When clients face challenges or opportunities in the global marketplace, Much Shelist can draw on its membership in the International Alliance of Law Firms, a network of select, business-oriented law firms that provides access to global legal services in 37 countries. The organization has grown rapidly since it was formed in 1990, now totaling 53 firms located worldwide, including North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. As a result, members can provide clients with swift and effective legal advice, as well as litigation capabilities, virtually anywhere in the world.
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Settlement Counsel. Although the vast majority of cases result in some form of settlement, these settlements typically occur after significant time, money and other resources have been spent fighting, and preparing to fight, in court. At Much Shelist, we offer settlement counsel services that differ from typical litigation in their focus on settlement as the ultimate goal. As settlement counsel, we do not act as mediators or arbitrators; rather, we are engaged by clients to pursue rational settlement strategies as a first recourse. In doing so, we take the interests of all parties into account, including time pressures, needs for privacy and the prevention of negative publicity, working separately from litigation counsel to develop innovative solutions.
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