Chad T. Williams

Chad is a Partner and Business Law attorney at Lamb McErlane PC, and leads the Firm’s Delaware office. With nearly 25 years of experience — including time as an investment banker, in-house corporate counsel, and corporate private practice attorney — Chad brings a rare, business-first perspective to the legal issues facing entrepreneurs, family-owned companies, and the institutions that invest in them.

Chad’s practice is built around one core relationship: serving as trusted, outside general counsel to founder-owners and family businesses throughout the life of their companies. That role begins long before a transaction is on the table. Chad has developed a growing practice helping owners and their management teams prepare their companies years in advance of a sale — leading a proactive, sell-side readiness process designed to identify and resolve legal, tax, financial, and operational issues before they can complicate a future deal. Acting as the quarterback on these engagements, Chad brings in specialists as needed, then carries that same institutional knowledge through to represent the company when it ultimately goes to market.

That combination has made Chad a go-to M&A lawyer for founder- and family-owned businesses, with deep experience on both the buy-side and sell-side of transactions involving private equity and strategic acquirers. His recent deal work spans technology-enabled B2B services, healthcare and medical device services, automotive and recreational vehicle dealership technology platforms, waste removal, construction and infrastructure services, data centers, financial advisory, and emerging deal structures such as private equity investment in the non-legal assets of law firms.  He has represented clients opposite some of the country’s most established private equity investors and multiple publicly traded acquirers, and regularly advises senior management and boards on corporate governance, fiduciary duties, internal investigations, and corporate financing matters. He also counsels privately-held and family-owned businesses on succession planning and the resolution of business and partnership disputes.

Chad began his legal career clerking for a Senior Justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware and cut his teeth on early litigation matters in the Delaware Court of Chancery — a foundation that continues to shape how he advises clients today. As his relationships with long-time clients and referral sources have deepened, so has his role in their most consequential and sensitive matters: significant business and family disputes, and litigation in state and federal courts across Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Wyoming, including current matters in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Delaware Superior Court, Delaware Court of Chancery, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. Chad has also advised clients and witnesses in connection with investigations before the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal and state agencies, and represents a family office he has counseled for more than a decade across a wide range of investment and dispute resolution matters both domestically and abroad.

Clients and colleagues alike return to Chad for the same reasons: sound judgment, creative problem-solving, an exceptional work ethic, and an unwavering commitment to helping clients navigate complex, high-stakes challenges — whether that means preparing a company for the transaction of a lifetime or standing beside a family through a difficult dispute. That perspective on the intersection of legal training and business success is also the subject of his book, Escape the Law: The Journey from Lawyer to Entrepreneur, which profiles more than 50 lawyers who leveraged their legal education and training to build successful careers in fields such as private equity, real estate, sports and entertainment, and technology. Chad’s deep experience in both legal services and business also informs his role with Lamb McErlane’s AI Working Group, where he is responsible for leading the firm’s integration and adoption of advanced technology to improve efficiency and client satisfaction in an ethical manner.

EDUCATION:

• Widener University School of Law, JD (cum laude)
• Villanova University School of Law, Graduate Tax Program (coursework completed)
• Franklin & Marshall College, BA

ADMISSIONS:

• Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• Supreme Court of Delaware

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS:

M&A / Transactions

• Represented a technology marketing services company in its sale to a private equity-backed global software company in the IT management and cybersecurity solutions market
• Represented a specialty consulting services company serving medical device and pharmaceutical companies in its sale to a long-tenured, pure-play healthcare private equity investor
• Represented a privately-held family company in the sale of two software and service platforms serving the F&I function in auto and recreational vehicle dealerships — one to a joint venture owned by four publicly traded automotive industry companies, the other to a publicly-traded insurance services company
• Represented a multi-generational, family-owned waste removal company in its sale to a publicly traded waste removal company
• Represented a Delaware-based construction and utility services company in its sale to a publicly-traded, Texas-based building infrastructure and labor force management company
• Represented a data center services company in its sale to a joint venture between two publicly-traded materials and commercial building products companies
• Represented a financial advisory firm with offices in Maryland, West Virginia, and Tennessee in its sale to a multi-billion dollar financial advisory firm backed by Bain Capital
• Represented a Texas-based personal injury law firm in the sale of its non-legal assets to a management services organization, one of the first transactions of its kind reflecting a new trend in private equity investment in the non-professional operations of law firms

Litigation, Disputes & Government Investigations

• Represented a family office for more than a decade across investment and dispute resolution matters, including a partnership dispute involving jointly-owned property in the British Virgin Islands
• Represented a family office in connection with an investment in a redevelopment project in Long Island, New York
• Represented a family office in an estate and property dispute litigated in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Wyoming state court
• Represented a former corporate executive officer as a witness in civil and criminal investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice
• Represented a family’s interests in ongoing investigations before the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Justice, and several Pennsylvania state agencies
• Serves as co-counsel in multiple ongoing stranger-originated life insurance (STOLI) litigation matters in Delaware state and federal court

PODCASTS:

• Featured on the Way2Wealth® Podcast – How to Exit Your Business Smarter, with Scott Ford, Managing Director, Partner, and Wealth Advisor for Carson Wealth
• Interviewed on the From Angel to Exit podcast with host Bruce Eckfeldt, How to Avoid Deal Disasters: Why Founder-CEOs Need a Dedicated M&A Lawyer Before Selling. Listen here.
• Guest on the podcast, Beyond Base Camp with David Rivell, a partner at Element Risk Management. In this podcast, Chad shares his journey and insights on adding value to companies. If you’re a business owner looking to grow or transition your company, tune in here.

PRESENTATIONS:

• Panelist, Private Equity: Level the Playing Field

• Spoke to a group of business owners in West Chester, PA on Business Succession Planning, hosted by Jenn Marion and EOS (Entrepreneur Operating System) for Businesses.
• Panelist for Building Strategic Value: A Panel Discussion on Best Practices

AWARDS/RECOGNITION:

• Named a 2024-2026 Main Line Today Top Lawyer
• Recognized as a 2023-2026 “Best Lawyer” in Chester County by the Daily Local News

ADDRESS:

• West Chester, PA -24 E. Market St., PO Box 565, West Chester, PA 19381
• Wilmington, Delaware  – 3411 Silverside Road, Suite 104B, Office 251, Wilmington, DE 19810