BUSINESS FORMATION & TAX PLANNING
Our attorneys provide strategic advice on how to structure your business to preserve assets and manage risk. This includes the use of limited liability entities to separate operational risk from ownership of real property, crops, and equipment. They also advise on tax and estate planning to preserve wealth and facilitate the inter-generational transfer of family farming operations.
Read more about our experience in corporate governance and tax.
FSA COMMODITY PROGRAM COMPLIANCE
We have unique expertise in structuring farming entities and operations to ensure compliance with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) FSA crop subsidy program requirements. Our services in this area include advice to agricultural producers regarding the complex business and financial requirements of the FSA Handbook. Our attorneys also provide advice on FSA requirements for being “actively engaged in farming” and applicable payment limitations, and FSA conservation programs.
REAL ESTATE ACQUISITION & LEASING
G&K attorneys have extensive experience in the acquisition, development, and disposition of agricultural properties, including negotiating and documenting contracts for the purchase or sale of farmland and cattle ranches, resolving survey and title-related problems, overseeing environmental due diligence, and securing governmental and regulatory approvals. We also represent lenders and borrowers in complex financing transactions, handle 1031 exchanges and reverse exchanges, and negotiate and document leases of both public and private lands.
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ENVIRONMENTAL & NATURAL RESOURCES
Our robust environmental team has long represented dairy, ranch, farm, and greenhouse operators with environmental permitting, rulemaking, and regulatory litigation. We have worked with a number of agricultural trade associations and other associations of conservation districts and other organizations.
We understand many of the unique aspects of agricultural operations and how to effectively represent agricultural interests, including fertilizer and pesticide manufacturers, and biotechnology groups involved in agriculture. For example, we represent several fertilizer manufacturers in national, high-profile U.S. Environmental Protection Agency enforcement initiatives under the air and hazardous waste laws and regulations. Our experience in the agricultural arena, combined with our related experience, equips us to address most any agricultural regulatory issue.
Read more about our firm's robust environmental practice.
LAND USE & REGULATORY COMPLIANCE
We advise clients and handle claims involving the management and use of farmland and ranches, including condemnation actions, zoning disputes, and other land use regulations. We also consult with clients and litigate claims relating to roadway easements and rights-of-way. They provide agricultural clients with a depth of experience in regulatory compliance, including state pesticide laws and regulations, environmental compliance, and food safety issues.
Read more about our experience in land use, planning, and zoning.
LITIGATION
Gallagher & Kennedy’s litigation team boasts decades of experience representing the interests of Arizona crop farmers, dairy farmers, and cattle ranchers. Our expertise includes negotiating and documenting the settlement of complex disputes and safeguarding the interests of agricultural clients through arbitration, mediation, and other forms of alternative dispute resolution.
When agribusiness disputes cannot be resolved, our experienced attorneys provide aggressive and cost-effective representation through case preparation, pleadings, discovery, and trial. Our firm’s litigation experience includes hundreds of jury and bench trials in both state and federal courts. We also represent both plaintiffs and defendants in the state and federal appellate courts.
Our services include the arbitration of complex commercial disputes, real estate and contract disputes, crop damage claims and quality disputes, and labor and employment litigation. We also litigate claims for provisional remedies, including temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions, forcible entry and detainer claims, attachment, garnishment, and replevin.
G&K attorneys also represent clients before administrative agencies at all levels of government, including federal agencies such as the Internal Revenue Services (IRS), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). They also assist state and county agencies, such as the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) and the Flood Control District of Maricopa County (FCDMC), and municipal agencies, such as city tax departments and planning and zoning authorities.
Read more about our full-service litigation practice.
BANKRUPTCY & CREDITORS’ RIGHTS
Our attorneys are recognized leaders in the field of business restructuring and reorganization and have represented numerous agricultural clients throughout Arizona in complex insolvency-related litigation and workouts from both the creditor and debtor perspective. Our attorneys also structure asset acquisitions in bankruptcy cases, advise agricultural clients on purchasing assets from bankruptcy estates, and represent the rights and interests of lenders and secured parties.
Read more about our experience in bankruptcy and creditors' rights.
CROP INSURANCE CLAIMS
G&K attorneys have unique experience representing the interests of agricultural producers litigating disputed claims made under the terms of multi-peril crop insurance policies. They are well versed in handling claims against federally-insured crop insurance providers under both Actual Production History and Crop Revenue Coverage policies. Our attorneys are also successful in the handling of good farming practice appeals to the USDA Risk Management Agency.
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WATER RIGHTS
We proudly represent the interests of Arizona farmers and ranchers in the acquisition, protection, and transfer of agricultural water rights. This includes advice on appropriative rights in surface flows and groundwater rights under Arizona’s Groundwater Management Code. Our attorneys handle the transfer of grandfathered rights and represent water users in their dealings with the Arizona Department of Water Resources. We also represent irrigation companies and canal operators.
Read more about our water and natural resources law experience.
REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE
- Represented vegetable and grape growers from Mexico in disputes with brokers/buyers in the United States and prepared agreements to meet PACA requirements.
- Represented Arizona agricultural growers in compliance with USDA Farm Service Agency regulations.
- Represented investors in acquisitions of automobile dealerships, farms and cattle ranches, construction companies, development companies, and agricultural processors.
- Represented owners in financing for acquisition of land for development or farming; for development and construction loans; and for refinancing existing loans.
- Represented clients as owners or tenants in complex commercial and agricultural leases.