This article first appeared in The Oklahoma Bar Journal, February 2009.
In a merger, acquisition or reorganization of any business, many important details and deal points are discussed, negotiated and incorporated into innumerable drafts of a definitive agreement. Yet one critical area, often overlooked by transaction lawyers, may have serious consequences to the acquiring company and its future employees — immigration law. If considered at all, immigration issues are relegated to second-tier concerns that, in the minds of the lawyers, can be handled after the closing. In many cases, however, ?after the closing? is too late, and the acquiring company may find itself at the mercy of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) or worse, U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), the enforcement bureau of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).1 An acquiring company may also discover it has lost the services of key employees of the acquired company.
To uncover immigration-related issues in time to successfully resolve them, the prudent transaction lawyer should carefully consider these immigration issues well in advance of closing...
Article authored by McAfee & Taft attorney: Richard Salamy.
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