Revision Legal’s Portage office provides business legal counsel for companies throughout Kalamazoo and southwest Michigan. From startup formation and commercial contracts to M&A transactions and business litigation, our attorneys bring a business-focused perspective to every engagement — keeping client outcomes, budgets, and timelines at the center of the work.
Business Legal Services for Kalamazoo Companies
- Business Formation & Structure — Entity selection, formation filings, operating agreements, bylaws, and shareholder agreements for LLCs, corporations, and partnerships.
- Commercial Contracts — Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating vendor contracts, customer agreements, licensing deals, distribution agreements, and NDAs across all industries.
- Mergers & Acquisitions — Full M&A transaction support for buyers and sellers — letter of intent negotiation, due diligence, purchase agreement drafting, and closing. We represent businesses in both asset and stock deals.
- Partner & Shareholder Disputes — Resolving ownership conflicts, buyout disputes, and breach of fiduciary duty claims through negotiation, mediation, or litigation.
- Outside General Counsel — Ongoing legal support for growing businesses, covering contracts, employment matters, regulatory questions, and strategic decisions without the overhead of in-house counsel.
- Business Litigation — Representing businesses in commercial contract disputes, unfair competition claims, and business tort cases in state and federal court.
- Non-Compete & Trade Secrets — Drafting enforceable non-compete and confidentiality agreements and litigating trade secret misappropriation when employees or competitors cross the line.
More detail is available on our business law services page, as well as pages on buying and selling a business, trade secrets, and civil litigation.
Serving Kalamazoo’s Business Community
Southwest Michigan has a diverse business economy. Southwest Michigan First identifies manufacturing, health sciences, medical devices, design, food and beverage processing, business services, and logistics as the region’s key industries. Kalamazoo’s businesses increasingly compete nationally and internationally, which means the legal issues they face are not always straightforward. Contract disputes with out-of-state vendors, IP licensing for software products, non-compete enforcement across state lines — these call for focused business counsel, not generic advice.
Eric Misterovich brings a business-first approach rooted in understanding that legal work should serve practical business goals. Christopher Carol focuses on corporate and transactional matters, including M&A, drawing on nearly a decade as in-house counsel, and has advised businesses on structuring deals that manage risk and preserve value. Together they offer Kalamazoo-area businesses a broad range of business legal services close to home.
Protecting confidential information is a recurring issue for the manufacturers and life science companies in the region. Michigan’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act protects information that has economic value because it is not generally known, but only when the business makes reasonable efforts to keep it secret. Confidentiality agreements, access controls, and exit procedures for departing employees are practical ways to build that record before a dispute arises.
Where Kalamazoo Business Disputes Are Heard
Contract, fiduciary duty, and ownership disputes between Michigan parties generally proceed in state court. In Kalamazoo County, that is the 9th Circuit Court, whose civil docket covers disputes involving claims of $25,000 or more, with civil matters heard at the Gull Road Justice Complex, 1536 Gull Road in Kalamazoo. Michigan law also requires qualifying business and commercial disputes to be assigned to a business court when filed in a circuit court that has a business docket (MCL 600.8031 et seq.).
Business cases with federal claims, or with parties from different states and enough in controversy, may be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, which has a courthouse in the Federal Building at 410 West Michigan Avenue in Kalamazoo. Choosing the forum — and reviewing any forum-selection or arbitration clause in the governing contract — is one of the first strategic decisions in a business dispute.
Serving Kalamazoo and Southwest Michigan
From our Portage office, we work with businesses throughout Kalamazoo County and southwest Michigan, including Kalamazoo, Portage, Battle Creek, Paw Paw, Sturgis, and surrounding areas. We also serve clients statewide and nationally.
Contact a Kalamazoo Business Lawyer
Call our Portage office at 269.281.3908 or contact us online to schedule a business law consultation.
Revision Legal — Portage
8051 Moorsbridge Road
Portage, MI 49024
269.281.3908
Kalamazoo Business Law FAQ
Does a Kalamazoo County business dispute go to a business court?
It may. Michigan law defines business or commercial disputes to include actions in which all parties are business enterprises and certain disputes between a business and its owners, managers, or employees, and it requires those disputes to be assigned to a business court when filed in a circuit court that has a business docket. How that applies depends on the court and the claims involved.
What should a buyer review before acquiring a southwest Michigan business?
Due diligence typically covers financial statements, tax filings, customer and supplier contracts, employment arrangements, real estate and equipment, intellectual property, pending or threatened claims, and required licenses or permits. The goal is to identify liabilities and deal risks before signing, so they can be addressed through price, representations and warranties, indemnification, escrow, or a decision to walk away.
How do I form an LLC in Michigan?
A Michigan limited liability company is formed by filing articles of organization with the Corporations Division of the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, which accepts filings through its online MiBusiness Registry Portal. Filing creates the entity, but a written operating agreement is what sets out ownership percentages, management authority, capital contributions, and what happens when a member wants to leave.
What makes information a trade secret under Michigan law?
Under Michigan’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act, information such as a formula, program, method, technique, or process can be a trade secret if it derives independent economic value from not being generally known and is subject to reasonable efforts to maintain its secrecy. Customer lists, pricing models, and manufacturing know-how may qualify when the business actually treats them as confidential.
Where can Kalamazoo businesses meet with your attorneys?
Our Portage office at 8051 Moorsbridge Road, Portage, MI 49024 serves businesses in Kalamazoo, Portage, Battle Creek, Paw Paw, Sturgis, and nearby communities. Call 269.281.3908 to schedule a business law consultation. Contract review, entity formation, and many transaction tasks can be handled remotely, and we are glad to meet in person in Portage when a matter calls for it.
More Practice Areas — Kalamazoo
Our Portage office serves the full Kalamazoo and southwest Michigan market across all practice areas.
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