Bryan Rakes and Mike Pedone presented part of "Mergers and Acquisitions from Start to Finish," a CLE seminar hosted by the National Business Institute on February 11, 2011. Bryan spoke about preliminary issues in M&A deals, such as confidentiality agreements, letters of intent, due diligence and transaction structuring, as well as post-closing issues, including purchase price adjustments and dispute resolution. Mike’s presentation included an ethics refresher and an overview of some special challenges encountered in M&A deals, including the use of stock as acquisition consideration, acquisitions of distressed/bankrupt targets, antitrust considerations, and intellectual property issues.