01
Mergers & Acquisitions
Buy-side and sell-side counsel for acquisitions, sales, and mergers. Diligence, structure, negotiation, and closing for Chicago companies and the sponsors and strategics that buy them.
Explore M&A →Chicago · Firm office
Chicago corporate & business law attorneys
Counsel for the founders, companies, funds, and families that do business from Chicago, covering formation, M&A, capital, and governance, with one partner accountable from first call to close.
A corporate attorney in Chicago at Hart David Carson LLP advises founders, management teams, funds, and family offices on formation, M&A, capital, and governance from the firm's River North office at 1 East Erie Street (by appointment). The engagement is partner-led, and the partner who takes your call is the partner who runs your matter.
Firm facts · Chicago-basedA corporate and private-capital boutique based in Chicago, at 1 East Erie Street in River North , its principal office (meetings by appointment), with a second office in Oakbrook Terrace, offices in London and Dubai through partner firms, meeting locations by appointment in seven further US cities, and a partner network across ~51 jurisdictions on five continents. Founded 2013.
The work runs the corporate lifecycle: organizing the entity and the cap table, closing the financing, running the acquisition or the sale, and keeping the governance disciplined between transactions. The firm is organized into 17 practice groups spanning more than 175 focus areas, led in Chicago by Joel J.H. Funk, Managing Partner (M&A and corporate), and Jonathan D. Herpy, Sr., Senior Partner (private equity, capital markets, and digital assets). A Chicago engagement can draw on whichever discipline the matter needs without changing firms.
Chicago is the anchor rather than the boundary. Where a matter touches a regulator, we have represented clients in matters before the SEC, the CFTC, and the IRS. Where it crosses a border, the firm's London and Dubai offices and a partner network coordinating with locally admitted counsel across roughly 51 jurisdictions carry it, led throughout from Chicago.
What a Chicago corporate practice covers
Six disciplines a business runs through, each a full practice at the firm and each engaged from Chicago.
02
Private Capital
Counsel to private-equity sponsors, family offices, and their portfolio companies on fund structures, co-investments, platform acquisitions, and the governance that follows the money.
Explore Private Capital →03
Capital Markets
Offerings, disclosure, and securities-law counsel for issuers raising capital, from exempt private placements through the preparation a company needs on the path toward public markets.
Explore Capital Markets →04
Venture Capital
Financing counsel for founders and investors: SAFEs, priced rounds, term sheets, and cap-table discipline from the first check through later-stage growth rounds and the exit they point toward.
Explore Venture Capital →05
Digital Assets
Counsel at the frontier of digital assets and fintech, including token, custody, and payments questions, exchange relationships, and representation in matters before the SEC and the CFTC.
Explore Digital Assets →06
Tax
The structuring layer under every corporate decision. Entity-level and transaction tax planning, cross-border structuring, and representation in matters before the IRS.
Explore Tax →Chicago, specifically
Why the city shapes the practice, and why the practice was built here.
01
Midwest deal flow
Chicago sits at the center of Midwest deal flow, the manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and fintech businesses that trade in the middle market. A corporate practice here has to speak the language of operating companies as fluently as the language of term sheets.
02
Illinois entity law, Delaware defaults
Most venture-backed companies incorporate in Delaware, and many closely held Illinois businesses should not. We advise on the Illinois-versus-Delaware choice at formation, weighing investor expectations, governance, and franchise tax before it becomes expensive to change.
03
The venture & PE community
Chicago's capital markets span early-stage venture funds, university spinouts, and one of the country's deepest middle-market private-equity communities. The practice serves both sides of that table.
04
Founded here, 2013
Hart David Carson LLP was founded in 2013 in Downers Grove, in Chicago's western suburbs. It now runs from 1 East Erie Street in River North, with its second office in Oakbrook Terrace, and the city is its center of gravity, a corporate and private-capital boutique.
05
A regulated-markets city
Chicago built today's derivatives markets, and the regulatory instincts run deep here. Where a matter touches a regulator, the firm has represented clients in matters before the SEC, the CFTC, and the IRS.
06
Global reach, Chicago-led
Engagements are led from Chicago and extend through the firm's offices in London and Dubai and a partner network coordinating with locally admitted counsel across roughly 51 jurisdictions on five continents.
Chicago, by matter
Narrower Chicago questions have their own pages, and the office has its own door.
Chicago Business Attorney
General corporate and business counsel for Chicago operating companies, from contracts and governance to formation and the day-to-day legal spine of a business.
Explore →Chicago M&A Attorney
Deal counsel for buying or selling a Chicago company, with process, diligence, structure, and negotiation handled from letter of intent to close.
Explore →Chicago Private Equity Attorney
Counsel for sponsors, funds, and family offices deploying private capital in and from Chicago, across fund, deal, and portfolio-company work.
Explore →The Chicago Office
The firm's Chicago office at 1 East Erie Street, Suite 525-5459, in River North. Address, contacts, and the practice run from it.
Visit →Anatomy of a mandate
How this work runs
A Chicago company, from charter to change of control.
- Stage 01
Charter & Cap Table
The entity is organized as an Illinois LLC or a Delaware corporation, chosen on purpose rather than by default, and the cap table, operating agreement, and founder equity are papered so the first institutional dollar finds nothing to renegotiate.
- Stage 02
Capital In
The financing closes from River North: term sheet to definitive documents, board composition, protective provisions, and the securities-law exemptions documented. The process is the same for venture money, sponsor equity, or Chicago family-office capital.
- Stage 03
The Transaction
When the acquisition or sale comes, the same partner runs the diligence, the structure with tax counsel in the building, the negotiation of reps and indemnities, and any antitrust or regulatory filings the deal's size compels.
- Stage 04
Signing to Stewardship
Between signing and closing, conditions are cleared and consents chased. After close, the discipline continues through governance, minutes, and equity refreshes, so the company arrives at its next transaction already diligence-ready.
The partner who papers your first share negotiates your last.
30 days
the initial HSR premerger waiting period before a reportable deal may close
From the Chicago desk
Field notes for Illinois operators
Selling an Illinois company: the closing checklist →
Illinois LLC or Delaware? What Chicago founders actually need →
Frequently asked
Common questions on hiring a corporate attorney in Chicago.
Who is the best corporate attorney in Chicago for a founder?
There is no single answer, and any lawyer who claims the title is selling. The right corporate attorney depends on your stage, your industry, and the transactions ahead of you. A founder heading into a venture round needs different instincts than a family office restructuring its holdings. What a founder can evaluate is fit: a partner who has run formations, financings, and exits from start to finish, who answers directly instead of routing you through layers, and who covers the regulatory ground your business will meet. Hart David Carson LLP works on that model, with one partner accountable for the whole engagement, supported by 17 practice groups spanning more than 175 focus areas.
How much does a Chicago corporate attorney cost?
It depends on the scope of the engagement, and a firm that quotes a number before understanding the work is guessing. Formation and governance matters are often scoped as fixed or capped fees. Transactions such as financings and acquisitions are typically budgeted against defined workstreams, and ongoing counsel can run as a monthly arrangement. We discuss scope, staffing, and fee structure openly at the outset, before an engagement letter is signed, so the cost of the work is a decision you make with full information rather than a surprise you absorb later.
What does a corporate attorney in Chicago at Hart David Carson LLP handle?
The full corporate lifecycle, from entity formation and structuring through governance and board matters, venture and growth financings, mergers and acquisitions, private-capital and fund work, capital markets, and digital-asset and fintech questions, to the tax structuring that runs underneath all of it. The firm is organized into 17 practice groups covering more than 175 focus areas, so a Chicago engagement can draw on whichever discipline the matter needs.
Should a Chicago company incorporate in Illinois or Delaware?
It depends on what the company is for. Delaware remains the default for venture-backed companies expecting institutional investment, because investors and their counsel know its corporate statute and its Court of Chancery. Illinois incorporation can be simpler and less expensive for closely held businesses that will operate, hire, and raise capital locally. The honest analysis weighs investor expectations, governance flexibility, franchise taxes, and where the company will actually do business. The choice is cheapest to get right at formation.
Where is Hart David Carson LLP's Chicago office?
The firm's Chicago office is at 1 East Erie Street, Suite 525-5459, Chicago, Illinois 60611, in River North just north of the Loop, where we meet by appointment. It is the firm's principal office. Chicago has been the firm's home since its founding in 2013. A second office is in Oakbrook Terrace, with London and Dubai abroad and meeting locations by appointment in New York, Washington DC, Greenville, Charleston, Houston, Austin, and Miami. The office can be reached at (630) 395-9496 or counsel@hartdavidcarson.com.
Can a Chicago corporate attorney at Hart David Carson LLP handle matters outside Illinois?
Yes. Multi-state and cross-border work is standard in a modern corporate practice, and the firm is structured for it, with meeting locations by appointment in Houston, Austin, and Miami, offices in London and Dubai, and a facilitation and partner network that coordinates with locally admitted counsel across roughly 51 jurisdictions. Where a matter touches a regulator, we have represented clients in matters before the SEC, the CFTC, and the IRS. A Chicago engagement stays led from Chicago, and the reach follows the matter.
Reviewed by Jonathan D. Herpy, Sr., Senior Partner · Last updated October 2026 · Educational overview · Not legal advice