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Jennifer Novotny, Esq.

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Jennifer Novotny, Esq.Jennifer M. Novotny is an Associate in the Business Group at Cohen & Grigsby, P.C. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She provides general business and real estate advice to individuals and businesses and represents individual investors, closely held companies, and start-up businesses in various commercial transactions.

Representative Matters:
  • Representation of clients in various commercial transactions including mergers, acquisitions, and dispositions
  • Representation of clients in entity formation, employment and noncompetition agreements, shareholder and partnership agreements, and confidentiality agreements.
  • Representation of clients in residential and commercial real estate matters including the purchase, sale, and lease of real property, and zoning and land use matters
  • Representation of businesses and individuals in tax assessment appeals

Prior to joining Cohen & Grigsby as an Associate, Jennifer was a summer associate there in 2007, and a legal clerk at MacDonald, Illig, Jones & Brinton in Erie, PA, in 2006. Before attending law school, Jennifer was a freelance reporter for the Erie Times-News in 2004-2005. She wrote feature and news articles, published a weekly column, and photographed events for the Crawford County Neighbors section.

Jennifer served as a Congressional intern in the Erie County offices of Representative Phil English and Senator Arlen Specter in 2002 and 2004, respectively. While working at each office she addressed the needs of constituents, attended regional meetings and events, and wrote grant support and constituent contact letters on behalf of the Congressmen.

While attending law Ohio University as an undergraduate, Jennifer was a Region Four winner and national finalist for the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards in the category of in-depth writing, and she received 12th place honors in the William Randolph Hearst National Journalism Awards for in-depth writing of the six part series, “Cancer in Crawford County, Pennsylvania.” She wrote the series while doing an internship at the Meadville Tribune in 2003.

Jennifer also has intermediate proficiency in French.

Education and Certifications:

J.D., cum laude, Case Western Reserve University Franklin Thomas Backus School of Law, 2008
School of Law Leadership Award – Peer selected for involvement in the community and the law school
CALI Awards for the highest grades in CORE II Legal Research and Writing, Copyright Law, Animal Law, and the Community Development Clinic
Editor-in-Chief, The Docket weekly student newspaper
Secretary, Student Animal Legal Defense Fund
B.A./B.S., summa cum laude, Political Science/Journalism, Ohio University, 2005


Professional and Community Affiliations:

Bar Admission, State of Pennsylvania
Court Admission, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Member, Phi Delta Theta Law Fraternity
Phi Beta Kappa
Kappa Tau Alpha, honorary journalism fraternity for academic excellence in journalism
Member, Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law Fraternity
Member, Society of Professional Journalists
Member, Association for Women in Communication

www.CohenLaw.com

Read Articles by Jennifer Novotny

Recent articles

  Caveat Emptor: The Significance of Due Diligence in Acquiring a Business
By Jennifer M. Novotny and Michael E. Silverman, Attorneys at Law

Throughout the lifecycle of a business, it is important for a business owner to remain focused on increasing the profitability, competitive advantage and market reach of the business. An entrepreneur typically accomplishes these objectives by (i) reinvesting the profits of the business to increase its workforce, customer base and cash flow and (ii) using business profits (along with other financing) to acquire competing businesses. Such business acquisitions typically serve two purposes by eliminating competitors and increasing the growth rate, product and service offerings, and market share of a business.

This article focuses on the critical nature of the due diligence process in connection with a business acquisition.

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  Protecting a Seller in the Face of a Buyer’s Due Diligence Investigation
By Jennifer M. Novotny and Michael E. Silverman, Attorneys at Law

The many years of hard work and long days at the office may be about to pay off—you have just received an offer from a potential buyer to acquire your business. Just as you developed and followed a detailed business plan to build your business, now you need to develop a well-thought out plan covering the sale of your business, paying proper attention to the due diligence process.

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  How a Well-Drafted Letter of Intent Can Save Time and Money in Completing a Transaction
By Jennifer M. Novotny and Michael E. Silverman, Attorneys at Law

Whether you are buying or selling a business, negotiating the terms of a letter of intent (an “LOI”) is one of the first and most critical steps in the process of completing the transaction.  A well-written letter of intent provides a valuable foundation for a potential transaction as it captures the parties’ intentions with regard to the structure, timing and material terms of the transaction. An LOI often imposes significant obligations on each of the parties, and consequently is typically the product of fairly intense negotiations between the parties.

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  Confidentiality Agreements: Protecting the Keys to the Kingdom
Share our PassionBy Jennifer M. Novotny and Michael E. Silverman, Attorneys at Law

A typical entrepreneur invests a tremendous amount of time, effort and money in building a business. That is why it is so important for entrepreneurs to make sure employees and third parties who work with the business are prohibited from improperly using or disclosing any confidential or proprietary information of the business(e.g. customer lists, trade secrets and financial statements).  Similarly, and in connection with selling a business, it is critical for the owner of the business not to provide any confidential information to a prospective purchaser until that party has signed a well-written confidentiality agreement.
  
Confidentiality agreements are designed to protect one of the most valuable assets of a business— proprietary information. Confidentiality agreements are used for many different purposes (e.g. engaging employees and independent contractors, and negotiating a contract such as a supply and distribution agreement). However, this article focuses on the use of confidentiality agreements in connection with selling a business.

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