Palm Beach Law Group provides a complete range of services to facilitate the purchase and sale of dental practices. Our attorneys and staff have extensive experience in this field and the special knowledge needed to protect the interests of dental professionals. Whether you wish to sell a dental practice or buy a practice, we can help you through a smooth process.

Comprehensive Advice And Services For Dentists

Noncompete agreement: We will work to ensure the scope of the noncompete clause is fair and reasonable for our client and that the consideration paid is appropriate.

Real estate: We can review the lease, or if the practice is located in a stand-alone building, facilitate its sale by reviewing the purchase and sale agreement and mortgage documents.

Employment law: If you are purchasing a dental practice, we can provide employment law services to help you comply with state and federal laws.

Goodwill: Usually, this is the largest component of the sale. Working with an experienced dental practice valuation specialist, we will develop a true picture of the good will, the value of the equipment and supplies, and the value of real estate.

When you are looking to buy or sell a dental practice, it is important to protect your legal interests by paying special attention to the various contracts that are prepared. The letter of intent and the purchase agreement are vital to any successful transaction. The letter of intent is an important first step. But you must be very careful because if something is not in the purchase agreement then it is not part of the transaction even if it is in the letter of intent or you’ve been discussing it verbally with the other party.

At Palm Beach Law Group we carefully draft, revise, and review all aspects of the Asset Purchase Agreement paying special attention to issues like Allocation of Purchase Price (key), Contingencies, Non-Compete Covenant, Collection of Seller’s Accounts Receivable, Correcting Defective Dentistry, Warranties and Representations, and other issues.

Employment Agreements can be for W-2 (payroll) employees or for 1099 independent contractors. They can vary from practice to practice, and even among associates within one practice. These are legally binding contracts so you should have it reviewed by a healthcare attorney experienced in local and federal labor law. State and Federal laws govern many aspects of employment.

At Palm Beach Law Group we look to the most important aspects of Employment Agreements in drafting and reviewing them: Term of Employment, Services to be performed, Benefits, Professional Liability Insurance or Dental Malpractice Insurance, Record keeping duties, Covenant Not to Compete or Restrictive Covenants, Non-disclosure, Termination of Employment, and, of course, Compensation.

The Employment Agreement will govern the key terms of the relationship between owner and dentist provider. It’s importance cannot be overstated.

If you are purchasing a practice or forming a start-up practice, you will likely need to form some sort of limited liability entity to help protect you and your personal assets. These entities range from c-corps to single member LLCs, and may also be professional service entities under state law. Our team of professionals regularly assists dentists with the formation of limited liability companies and corporations, as well as the operating, shareholders’, and buy-sell agreements as well as by-laws that go along with those entities.

Whether you are a sole member or shareholder, or a group of members or shareholders, our team of attorneys and professionals can assist you with the entity formation process from start to finish so that your dental practice and family are protected.

It is important to establish clear ground rules that are fair and equitable while also providing for orderly adjustments as the needs of the practice change. A partnership agreement (in any form) sets these rules and is a roadmap to success in the dental partnership. This is true for start-ups, existing practices, and associate buy-ins.

Dental practices can generate significant revenue. That income must cover expenses, grow the business, and be divided among the dentists. However, failing to outline exactly how that money gets divided, who divides it, or when it gets divided, can destroy numerous practices and friendships. This can be avoided with clear standards and rules.

Developing a sound dental partnership agreement involves insight from accountants, insurance specialists, and other consultants familiar with the dental industry and the pitfalls most dental partnerships often encounter. We can help you address these issues from a legal perspective. Topics may include: perks/benefits, death of a co-owner, loss of license, majority/unanimous agreement, managers, tax partners, adding new/other owners, competition against the partnership, buyout price, and others. These are tough issues, but addressing them immediately will make for a smooth business in the future.

Palm Beach Law Group handles all commercial landlord-tenant issues from tenant lease negotiations, drafting, assignments, and renewals to handling your side as the professional landlord leasing out space.

When a dentist is the landlord, it’s important to understand how terms can affect your position as property owner and the applicable laws for landlords as well as those that require common terms among tenants.

As a tenant, it is critical for competent counsel to focus on key lease issue: the term, options to renew, type of lease (gross/NNN), rent, build-out/upgrades/fixtures, tenant improvement allowance, assignment / transfer clauses, personal guarantees (including spouse), signage, HazMat, a right of first refusal or option to purchase, and/or expansion rights.

Palm Beach law group handles this very careful and critical aspect of professional practice: restrictive covenants, non-competes, and non-solicitation. Many aspects are governed by key local laws that require detailed local legal knowledge and experience. In Florida, that would be Florida Statute 542.335, which distinguishes between restrictive covenant rules when dealing with employees or independent contractors versus in connection with a dental transition.

Many dentists will someday hire an associate. Since the owner has established the practice, developed long-term relationships with patients, and built a strong reputation in the community, the owner make make sure this goodwill is protected from associates whose ultimate goal is to establish their own practice. Thus, dentists commonly require associates to sign a non-compete agreement as a condition of employment.

Similarly, in a dental transition, the purchase is buying this goodwill from the seller. The buyer must ensure that the value of the goodwill of the selling dentist is protected from competition, disparagement, or silication by the seller. And the selling dentist wants to ensure flexibility to work if needed to make ends meet.

PBLG has extensive experience in all these situations touching on healthcare and dental restrictive covenants.

Palm Beach Law Group can help with business arrangements between dentists and other healthcare professions and non-dentist, non-professional entities that wish to work together. A dentist may enter into an agreement with a non-dentist to receive “Practice Management Services.” The term “Practice management Services” is defined to include consultation or other activities or services offered by someone other than a Florida licensed dentist regarding one or more of the following types of products or services: Office Space and Staff, Regulatory Compliance, Marketing/Productivity Enhancements, Site Selection, and Financial Management among other items. For all these services, the administration company can change a management fee that must be for fair market value and directly related to the goods and services provided without taking into account patient referrals. No dentist or other doctor should ever pay a percentage or portion of its gross or net profits to the non-dentist or non-professional corporation.

When you succeed, you grow. And along with the excitement of growth can come the growing pains. One area of the healthcare and dental business that can be really problem is labor issues. You’ve been successful, so you hire more employees. Now one of them is saying they were not paid overtime properly. Another says they were harassed by a colleague. What do you do you? Palm Beach Law Group is here to help. We have years of experience going to bat for you the dental practice owner and protecting your interest while attempting to amicably and quietly resolve employment disputes.

But the best medicine for employment disputes is avoidance. And PBLG can help there too. Every practice is distinct. And you need the right Employee Handbook and policies in place, closely followed, and carefully maintained. Why? Because you are far less likely to have problems with known, followed rules.

If a dentist or dental practice is involved in an employment dispute, having the right attorney by your side to swiftly and calmly put to bed such problems is the first step. We are here for you.

An investigation by the Board of Dentistry is a very serious matter. A dentist may face various Board discipline such as license revocation, license suspension, license probation, license reprimand, or a citation. When you face these risks, you need great experience, counsel, and knowledge by your side. Palm Beach Law Group can help. Our attorneys and staff stand ready to immediately step in on your behalf. Your license is one of your most valuable assets. We can defend the license in the Board of Dentistry with careful preparation and advocacy. Some of the things we can do include challenging chart requests, defending your privacy, engaging third-party dental experts to defend you, and being by your side at any interview to make sure things go smoothly. When something so valuable is on the line, you must act fact. PBLG is the one to turn to.

The experienced healthcare and dental attorneys at Palm Beach Law Group help to protect your interests at informal requests and hearings as well as more formal settings before administrative agencies in Florida. From letters of investigation through Emergency Suspension Orders we are here to protect your most important assets: your license and your reputation. Whether it’s a background problem or an investigation, PBLG can help you.

As a dentist or healthcare professional, you are in a profession that runs a high risk of being sued for malpractice. That is just how things are. And you have to be prepared. Palm Beach Law Group can help you prepare given our deep experience in a broad range of asset protection strategies. Such strategies aim to abide 100% by the law and protect you, the client, from loss of assets from outside causes. Strategies can include things such as Irrevocable Trusts, limited liability entities, Family Limited Partnerships, or Offshore Trusts. It never hurts to see what might be available to help protect your family and you.