JULIE I. KLINE
Julie utilizes her studies in the field of finance to practice in the areas of corporate and business representation and estate planning and administration.

Throughout her career, she has advised companies and their owners in all facets of their business interests. Julie’s finance and legal background enables her to counsel clients in mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations, real estate transactions, estate planning and wealth transfer matters, succession planning, and individual and corporate tax planning. From startups to mature companies, she advises business owners on various legal matters, with a focus on the significant business issues at hand.

Julie’s business representation includes entity formation, business and commercial transactions, employment and non-compete agreement matters, mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations, private placement of equity securities, business and succession planning for business owners, buy/sell agreements, trademark registrations, commercial leases and real estate transactions. She has additional experience in representing business owners involved in shareholder and succession disputes, as well as advising family businesses in the transition from generation to generation. Julie is also knowledgeable in the areas of corporate transactional tax concerns of small to medium sized, family owned businesses.

In addition to her corporate practice, Julie advises individuals in estate planning, wealth transfer matters and estate administration, assisting clients with revocable trusts, life insurance trusts, wills, powers of attorney and living wills, as well as estate administration and probate matters. Julie serves as a volunteer member on advisory panels for PowerLink, an organization assisting women-owned businesses. She was a strategic partner and advisor to the Family Business Center at NexTier, which counsels and advises closely held family businesses.

Practice Areas
• Business Law
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Corporate Transactions
• Employment and Non-Compete
• Commercial Real Estate
• Trademark Registration
• Business Succession
• Estate Planning and Administration

Representative Matters
• Represented the selling group in a $10,000,000 sale of a national
software consulting firm.
• Represented a national software consulting firm in a $1,000,000 acquisition
of a California-based software consulting firm.
• Represented the purchasers of a $3,000,000 construction firm.
• Represented a surgery center in a successful start-up, private placement of equity
securities for the start-up, and construction funding.
• Represents a national health care public relations firm as general counsel.
• Represented a minority owner in the sale of its interest in a $12,000,000+
real estate partnership development.
• Represented the purchaser of an $11,000,000+ real estate
development and building.
• Represented numerous shareholders/business owners in business divorce
or shareholder dispute matters.
• Represented several family owned businesses valued in excess of $2-3 million
in business succession matters and planning.

Experience
• 2009  Metz Lewis LLC
• 1997  Morella & Associates

Education
• 2008  Entrepreneurial Fellows Center, University of Pittsburgh
              Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business
• 1997  J.D., University of Pittsburgh School of Law
• 1994  B.S., Business Administration and Finance, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio

Admissions
• Pennsylvania
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

Professional Affiliations and Honors
• Pennsylvania Bar Association
• Allegheny County Bar Association
• Committee Member, The Children's Home of Pittsburgh and Lemieux Family Center