About William S. Bost III

William S. Bost III has over 20 years experience practicing a wide range of business law. He regularly counsels business clients on strategic legal issues, from business and entity planning and formation and corporate governance issues, through growth and financing transactions, and often through disposition of the business and, if necessary, crisis management. He assists businesses in virtually any kind of transaction their company may encounter, including real estate matters, mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances, financial transactions, regulatory compliance, intellectual property, private securities offerings, and technology transactions. In addition, he can assist in employment matters and unusual matters that arise frequently in the operation of a business.

To the right is a list of practice areas with respect to which Bill has experience. References to "we", "our" and "the firm" refer to his practice. Please click for more information.

Below is general information regarding his education and other matters of interest:

EDUCATION:

• J.D., with honors, 1989, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Graduated in Top 5% of Class
• Order of the Coif
• North Carolina Law Review
• B.A., Economics, 1986, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Recipient of John Motley Morehead Scholarship
• President, Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity

ADMITTED:  Virginia State Bar, 1989; North Carolina State Bar, 1993

AUTHOR: Interstate Banking: A Guide to the Fifty States, 1995; What Does Right Mean? Developing an Ethical Business Environment in the Mortgage Industry, 2004; North Carolina Mortgage Lending, 2008

Entity Formation

Bill assists clients in assessing their current and future business needs and selecting the appropriate legal structure to meet those needs. He works with clients to determine the best type of legal entity to accomplish their business objectives and to create additional simple and complex ownership and control structures tailored to meet the specific needs of individual transactions. Based on the needs of the individual client, he forms corporations, limited liability companies, general and limited partnerships and trusts and negotiates and crafts the necessary supporting documents. When there are unique or complex tax implications that need to be addressed he works with tax planning attorneys and accountants to ensure all the necessary issues are addressed and properly managed.

Shareholder Disputes

In these challenging economic times, business relationships often are strained by capital, credit and other requirements. Bill represents minority shareholders, majority shareholders, and businesses involved in shareholder disputes throughout North Carolina. His practice in these matters has included breach of shareholder / partnership agreements, breach of fiduciary duty claims, disputes concerning corporate governance, dissolutions, closely held business disputes, and related issues.

Commercial Real Estate

We represent clients in the acquisition, development, construction, leasing and sale of office buildings, shopping centers, single-use commercial properties, hotels, development parcels, residential and multifamily properties, and mixed-use projects. Our engagements in this area include the acquisition and development of downtown office buildings and suburban office parks, corporate headquarter facilities, build-to-suit manufacturing, warehouse and distribution facilities and industrial parks, residential multifamily complexes, mixed-use developments in office parks, single-family residential subdivisions, retail developments, hotels, condominium conversions, cooperatives, medical centers, assisted living communities, nursing homes and resort communities. We are experienced in construction financing and dispute resolution.

Acquisitions and Joint Ventures

Business acquisitions and strategic relationships are an important part of our practice. We routinely advise on structuring acquisitions and dispositions, assist in negotiations and document the transactions. In many transactions, we work closely with other lawyers who concentrate in tax, environmental law, employee benefits, intellectual property and other disciplines. Many of our corporate clients are related to the financial services industry and enter into technology licensing agreements, joint ventures or strategic partnerships. Our structuring of these arrangements often requires creative solutions for integrating business, tax, and accounting considerations while assuring protection to the client's intellectual property.

Residential Real Estate

Our firm offers decades of real estate experience to get your sale, purchase, or refinance closed correctly and efficiently. We conduct closings for individuals and companies for property located in North Carolina, and can assist in locating counsel in other states. In addition to purchase and sale transactions between individuals, we represent builder clients in closing the sales of individual residences.

Subsidized Housing

In the years from 1999 to 2006, Bill closed over $500 million in low-income housing tax credit transactions subject to Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code. He advises holders of investments in these types of transactions as to ways in which they can dispose of or manage their investments. He also has advised landlords with respect to HUD Section 8 issues.

Consumer Finance and Mortgage Banking

Our firm offers counseling and litigation services in all aspects of the federal and state regulation of consumer financial services, including mortgage lending, consumer lending, private banking, insurance, electronic banking, including issues relating to the Internet, and auto finance and leasing.

Our firm regularly represents mortgage brokers, mortgage lenders, banks and other nonbank financial institutions before the North Carolina Commissioner of Banks in licensing and enforcement actions. We also advise various entities on state and federal regulatory issues, strategic planning, and acquisition issues. Bill formed the first affiliated business arrangement involving mortgage-related service providers in North Carolina in 1996, and has formed dozens since that time.

Bill has been a lobbyist for the North Carolina Association of Mortgage Professionals since 1993, and has participated in the drafting and implementation of the North Carolina Predatory Lending Act, and subsequently, the North Carolina SAFE Act. Recently we have advised various in-state and out-of-state firms regarding compensation practices and third party lending practices.

A primary area of our practice is regulatory compliance and new product development, with special emphasis on residential mortgage lending. We counsel financial services clients on issues involving fair lending and fair credit reporting, the Truth-In-Lending Act and Regulation Z, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and Regulation X, Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B, Electronic Funds Transfer Act, Community Reinvestment Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, state insurance laws, state and local predatory lending laws, and the myriad of other federal and state laws affecting consumer financial services. Bill has testified before the Federal Reserve Board on these issues.