Clark Lacy is a member of the Firm’s Corporate & Business Law Group. Since Clark’s start with the Firm in 2012, his practice has focused on partnership and corporate tax planning, mergers and acquisitions, corporate law, and business succession planning. He frequently advises his clients on tax-efficient and innovative solutions that preserve and enhance the values of their businesses while minimizing risk. Clark provides innovative structures to address issues arising during the entire life-cycle of his clients’ businesses, including choice-of-entity issues; debt and equity capitalization; operating agreements, bylaws, and other governing documents; employment agreements and restrictive covenant agreements; equity and executive compensation arrangements; exit transactions; and business and family succession planning.

  • Tax Law Review (New York University School of Law)
  • Wilf Tax Scholarship (New York University School of Law)
  • Student Works Editor, South Carolina Law Review (University of South Carolina School of Law)
  • Victor A. Michalewitz Excellence in Legal Writing Award (University of South Carolina School of Law)
  • Order of the Coif
  • Order of the Wig and Robe
  • CALI Awards:
    • Bankruptcy
    • Commercial Law
    • Criminal Procedure
    • International Business Transactions
    • Partnership/LLC Tax
    • Wills, Trusts and Estates
    • Secured Transactions

Clark has represented privately held business and their owners as buyers and sellers in all types of business acquisitions, including asset sales, equity sales, private offerings, joint ventures, and mergers. His clients’ businesses represent a wide range of industries, including medical device manufacturers, commercial real estate developers, restauranteurs, chemical manufacturers, SaaS providers, and insurance agencies. Clark’s recent engagements include:

  • Represented closely held real estate business in $100 million joint venture with national real estate group.
  • Represented family-owned commercial real estate business in $40 million joint venture with private equity fund.
  • Represented privately held body shop in a $20 million asset sale to a private equity backed international body shop firm.
  • Represented buyers in $14 million § 336 stock acquisition of steel fabrication business.
  • Represented medical device business in $13 million equity private placement, $14 million convertible debt private placement, operation of stock option plan, institution and operation of restricted stock plan, and general corporate governance.
  • Represented acquirer in $15 million merger of property and casualty insurance agencies.
  • Represented acquirer in $14.5 million merger of property and casualty insurance agencies.
  • Represented seller in $8 million asset and real estate sale of marina to private equity backed national marina business.
  • Represented sellers in $7 million asset sale of natural gas equipment distributor and manufacturer representative business.
  • Represented seller and target company in F reorganization and $4 million equity sale of chemical business to a national chemical company.
  • Represented sellers in multiple $3-6 million sales of equity in entities owning investment real estate to private equity backed national funds.
  • Represented buyer in $3 million asset acquisition of healthcare accounting SaaS business.
  • Represented sellers in $3 million equity sale of multi-location restaurant.
  • Represented buyers in $2 million real estate and asset acquisition of steel fabrication business.
  • Represented buyer in structuring acquisition vehicle and acquiring multi-location restaurant.
  • Represented solar energy developer in negotiating and tax analysis of $20 million solar farm.
  • Represented family office in drafting and implementing family office structure with $300 million of assets under management.
  • Represented multiple privately held businesses in preparation of equity and phantom equity compensation plans.
  • Represented multiple privately held businesses in implementing and updating corporate governance and business succession agreements.

Publications

  • LLC Managers Beware: N.C. Responsible Person Liability, Tax Assessments, Vol. 33, No. 1 (N.C. Bar Ass’n Tax Section Oct. 2013) (Co-Authored with Christopher E. Hannum)
  • The Witch’s Brew: Nigerian Schemes, Counterfeit Cashier’s Checks, and Your Trust Account, 61 S.C. L. Rev. 753 (2010)
  • Carden v. Aetna Life Insurance Company, 559 F.3d 256 (4th Cir. 2009), 61 S.C. L. Rev. 601 (2010)