Full Legal Services for Biotechnology Companies throughout Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC
Biotechnology is one of the dominant industries of the 21st century and Maryland’s I-270 Corridor is home to one of the largest concentrations of biotechnology companies in the world. Connecting Montgomery County to Washington DC and Virginia, this region has been referred to as “DNA Alley” for its status as one of the country’s most prominent life-science corridors. Through the support of dozens of new biotech companies and the expansion of existing ones, the area has seen an increased demand for a highly-skilled workforce and the development of millions of square feet in new space.
As one of the leading law firms in the Greater Washington region, Shulman Rogers is uniquely qualified to service the needs of the biotech community. In addition to their law degrees, several of the Firm’s attorneys possess degrees in medicine, pharmacology and engineering. As a key player in the business community for more than 45 years, we have been at the genesis of the biotech boom, assisting local and regional biotech companies succeed. Shulman Rogers offers a full range of legal services to our biotech clients.
Business and Financial Services
The Intellectual Property Practice Group at Shulman Rogers provides advice and representation to a wide array of businesses and individuals in the life sciences industry. The Group provides comprehensive services allowing clients to:
- Identify its intellectual property to achieve the maximum substantive legal protections available for creative and technology-based works.
- Use its intellectual property to secure the greatest commercial value for its assets.
- Defend its intellectual property by providing comprehensive defense and enforcement of a company’s property rights. We provide comprehensive representation of our client’s interests across the “life cycle” of every invention or creation.
The Capital Markets Group helps startups and emerging biotech companies with such issues as business formation, creation of a capital structure, seed capital financing transactions, angel funding, venture capital and follow-on financing, including IPO and other SEC/state registered offerings and private placements. Members of the Capital Markets Group work extensively with regional incubators and business development resource centers.
At Shulman Rogers, we combine diverse capabilities in the areas of corporate and securities law including, tax law, employment law and estate planning to assist business owners in planning for the future and to provide value added services to our clients. The firm’s Business and Financial Services attorneys provides general corporate legal services with respect to both the organization and the operation of private as well as public biotechnology companies. Our attorneys fill integral and proactive roles on our client companies’ advisory teams. Successful businesses are those that plan not only their growth and expansion, but also their exit strategy, such as by sale or transfer to third parties.
Immigration
Shulman Rogers’ Immigration Group offers biotech clients a full array of employment-based immigration legal services including both Immigrant Visas (greencards) and Nonimmigrant (temporary) Visas. Shulman Rogers also conducts due diligence and risk assessments for immigration purposes, including I-9 Employment Compliance/Employer Sanctions and the unique immigration issues raised by some forms of corporate restructuring. Our clients include large, medium and small biotech companies engaged in the domestic and international transfer of foreign personnel, including executives, managers and other highly skilled professionals and scientists.
Real Estate
With space at a premium, biotech companies need help negotiating leases for necessary laboratory and office buildings. And as they grow, these same companies return for assistance purchasing land and constructing buildings for their very specific needs. Shulman Rogers’ Real Estate Department has two distinct practices to service those needs. The Commercial Leasing Practice at Shulman Rogers prepares and negotiates office and laboratory leases, subleases and build-to-suit leases. Our attorneys regularly advise biotech tenants and act as special counsel in complex commercial transactions. Our leasing attorneys work closely with our zoning attorneys, for example, in cases where clients wish to use undeveloped land, or expand or redevelop an existing project. We also lobby on behalf of our clients to protect and enhance their development rights, or when when other issues arise, such as taxes on new development, new environmental regulations, and the adequacy of public facilities. Although land is fixed, development rights are constantly in flux. The Land Use and Zoning Group has enabled many of our clients to smoothly navigate the zoning and governmental approval process and maximize the use of their property.
