Justin T. Banford represents businesses and business owners. His clients reflect a cross-section of the DC economy with many clients in technology, government contracting, and professional services. His practice areas are (i) Corporate and Business (80%); and (ii) Estate Planning (20%).
Corporate and Business. He helps entrepreneurs and executives effectively grow their companies through all stages of the business lifecycle:
- Formation. On formation, Mr. Banford provides seasoned guidance on proper corporate, tax, and management/governance structures; often working with clients’ tax professionals, angel capital, institutional lending, and other capital sources.
- Growth. For growing companies Mr. Banford works closely with executives and governance boards to put in place scalable service agreements; employee incentive programs including restricted stock, options and phantom stock; manage investor and management relations; and foster continued growth, including through mergers and acquisitions.
- Exit. Finally, Mr. Banford advises on succession planning and preparing company operations in advance of a sale, and performs all attendant transactional work.
Estate Planning. Mr. Banford developed his estate planning practice as an offshoot of his corporate work, initially helping entrepreneurs, executives, and high net worth families with concerns regarding estate taxes, legacy planning, asset protection, and charitable giving. However, his estate planning work addresses the universal concerns of protecting one’s family, probate avoidance, and incapacity planning.
Justin and his wife are blessed with three children and live in Fairfax Station, where they are active in their children’s schools and athletic teams.
- Business: Formation, Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Transactions, Tax
- Trusts and Estates
- George Mason University School of Law (J.D. 2005), Corporate and Securities Law Track
- University of Virginia (B.A. 2002), Economics with Finance Concentration
- Virginia
- District of Columbia
- Maryland
- McLean Estate Planning Council
- ServiceSource Planned Giving Council
- Crosspointe Board of Trustees
- ABA Military Pro Bono Project
- Led formation of a Public-Private Partnership to assist local businesses in Puerto Rico as part of Hurricane Maria recovery (2019)
- Successfully defended STEM education charity in dispute over grant agreement restrictions (2019)
- SuperLawyers Rising Star Selection in Corporate/Business Law (2019)
- Rollup Acquisitions of Manufacturing Companies by International Conglomerate (2018)
- Sale of Medical Cannabis Company for $30M (2018)
- Series B Round for Agricultural Tech Company raising $10M (2018)
- Sale of SEO Company to Private Equity firm for $40M (2018)
- Formation and Financing of Sports/Entertainment Venue for $24M (2017-2018)
- Sale of Product Design Company for $35M (2017)
- Series A Round for Bio-Tech Company raising $9M (2017)
- Lectured at NBI CLE event, A Primer on Advising Directors and Officers on Corporate Governance (2017)