Practice Areas & Industries: Holme Roberts & Owen LLP

Practice/Industry Group Overview

For over 100 years, Holme Roberts & Owen LLP (HRO) has built lasting relationships with Colorado's finest entrepreneurial pioneers, from railroads and mining, to oil and gas, and more recently technology and telecommunications. As Colorado's newest generation of entrepreneurs transforms the Front Range into a recognized center for technology, and e-commerce markets, HRO is right in step with them.

HRO has also brought this experience to new and existing clients operating overseas in the burgeoning high tech and e-commerce market.

In response to this latest evolution, HRO has assembled a team of lawyers in Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and London to serve as long-term and trusted advisors to these new pioneers.

Technology-based companies worldwide face the special challenges of raising early-stage capital, protecting and exploiting critical technology, and managing the problems that arise from rapid growth in revenue and workforce. We partner with our clients as they take their businesses from inception to a growing concern. We provide our clients proficiency in corporate finance, technology licensing and intellectual property protection, general business, Internet law, securities, strategic business combinations, tax, real estate, employment litigation, and compensation. We value close relationships with our clients, and we understand the concerns of growing companies.

Services Available

Lawyers in our group have experience in a wide range of industries, including computer hardware and software, Internet products, biotechnology, medical devices and pharmaceuticals, e-commerce, B2B, scientific instruments, environmental remediation, and organic foods.

HRO's emerging growth practice group comprises a team of corporate, intellectual property, employment, real estate and tax lawyers who regularly represent entrepreneurs, technology and growth companies, and their professional investors.

Venture capital financing

The group regularly handles venture capital investments, ranging from the smaller initial investments to hundred million dollar later stage rounds. We represent founders, companies, individual investors, and venture capital funds.

Securities Law

Raising capital is often the single most important factor in a company's success. The group has significant experience with initial public offerings, private placements, tender offers, exchange offers, securities filings, and other securities transactions typically used to finance emerging growth companies. In addition, we are able to call on other securities law practitioners at HRO who engage in a wide variety of matters for a diverse and large set of clients, ranging from large international public companies to smaller private firms. HRO acts as issuer's and underwriter's counsel in public offerings of common stock, preferred stock, debt, limited partnership interests, and other securities. The firm has substantial experience in the preparation of registration statements and prospectuses, private placement memoranda, and other disclosure documents and regularly represents clients before the SEC.

Technology protection, development and licensing

Technology is the foundation of many growth companies, and keeping that technology proprietary is often critical for success. The high tech/emerging business group has the lawyers clients need to protect their key technology. The group's intellectual property lawyers assist clients in creating and protecting intellectual property rights, including prosecuting patents, registering trademarks and copyrights, and litigating when necessary to protect these rights. HRO lawyers with more specialized intellectual property experience may be consulted, for example, with highly technical patents. Lawyers in the group are also regularly involved in the acquisition, development, marketing, licensing and sale of proprietary technology.

Some fields in which HRO lawyers have filed patent applications are: aerospace, biomedical instrumentation, telecommunications, chemical processes, computer hardware, software, computer peripherals, electronics, e-commerce, integrated circuits, optics, spectroscopy, and pharmaceuticals.

R&D financing and joint ventures

The high tech/emerging business group has represented clients in technology-based businesses in a number of "strategic partnerships" designed to develop and commercialize proprietary technology and in privately-placed research and development partnerships. We regularly assist our clients in structuring and implementing creative collaborations with others having complementary technology, marketing capabilities and other resources, both domestically and internationally.

Employment and compensation

Through HRO's employment lawyers, the group offers start-up companies throughout the world the resources of one of the largest employment and benefits legal departments in Colorado, capable of providing multi-jurisdictional experience, as well as employment advice on UK matters. HRO handles a wide range of employment matters such as employment policies and agreements (including protection of intellectual property), employment advice and litigation, and advice in specialized areas such as ERISA. We regularly advise clients on benefits issues such as the design and implementation of stock option and stock ownership plans, qualified retirement plans, and incentive compensation plans and executive compensation.

Income and property tax

The high tech/emerging business group is familiar with the basic tax issues encountered by growing businesses. In addition, HRO's full service tax department is available for consultation on more technical questions about corporate and individual income and property tax, at federal, state and local levels.

International law and tax

HRO offers specialized international tax advice and advice in establishing international operations and joint ventures and international technology development arrangements.

Real estate law

The high tech/emerging business group works with its clients on general real estate matters including acquiring and developing office and laboratory space, financing, permitting, constructing specialized production facilities and project finance.

Clients:
American AirCarrier's Support, Inc. , Granite Financial, Inc. , Sport Haley, Inc. , Wencor West, Inc., WestVista Advertising Services, LLC , Cornerstone Capital Partners I, L.P. , Alpine Dental Laboratory, Inc. , Prince Perelson and Associates, LLC , Talk2 Technology, Inc. , Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. , Ten Bagger Incorporated , Fat Pipe , HealthCare Partners, I, LLC , iArchives, Inc. , Serius Corporatoin , The Viatican Fund, L.C.