Attorney At Law, Managing Member
Telephone: 954 545 4994
E-mail: CBarnhart@BarnhartLawPLC.com
Constance R. Barnhart is the founder and Managing Member of Barnhart Law PLC. She practices in the area of business law, including corporate, commercial, and financial matters, business contracts of all kinds, mergers & acquisitions, alternative and renewable energy (wind and solar) transactions, and technology, intellectual property licensing, and computer and internet matters.
After more than 30 years of law practice with large law firms, including most recently 12½ years as a Partner at the law firm of Holland & Knight LLP, she founded Barnhart Law PLC in March, 2009. At Barnhart Law PLC she continues serving her U.S. and international clients at the lower billing rate and greater flexibility for personal attention permitted by a niche firm with lower overhead.
For specialized assistance in complementary areas, such as tax, regulatory advice, and other areas, when required in the transactions she handles, she brings in and continues to work with her colleagues of many years. Read further information about her Network of Attorney Colleagues.
In more than 30 years of law practice, Ms Barnhart has handled, as lead attorney, many substantial international and domestic mergers & acquisitions, wind energy project financings, solar energy development and supply agreements, joint ventures, securities offerings, venture capital investments, corporate reorganizations, distributorships, licensing and other commercial, financial, and intellectual property transactions for U.S. and international corporate clients.
Fluent in English, Spanish and Norwegian, and conversant in Swedish and Danish, she represents Scandinavian, European, Latin American, and U.S. corporate clients in both cross-border and U.S. transactions. She has represented clients and handled transactions in several industries, including wind and solar energy, computer software and hardware, information technology and security, media, telecommunications, e-commerce and internet infrastructure, manufacturing and product distribution, and financial services, among others.
Prior to joining Holland & Knight as a partner in 1996, she practiced for 11 years in New York City with a major international law firm and in private practice, and previously with a large international law firm in Houston, Texas and London, England.
Ms. Barnhart is admitted and licensed to practice law in four U.S. states: Florida, New York, Texas, and Minnesota. She has been a member of, and has served in leadership positions in, several international, American and state bar associations, international chambers of commerce, and organizations pertaining to business and the arts, as reflected below.
She has lectured and written widely on topics that include renewable energy transactions, legal issues in international commercial and trade transactions, cross-border mergers & acquisitions, intellectual property law issues, cross-border business negotiation, and others. She has lectured at such forums as Wharton School of Business; NYU Stern School of Business; Banker’s Trust in New York; international business conferences sponsored by Direct International in New York City; the Annual ACE Conference on Entrepreneurship; the American Woman’s Economic Development Corporation; the National Association of Export Companies; American Bar Association, Forbes Magazine, Corporate Counsel and BDA Conferences; and Harvard Law School.
As a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Minnesota, Ms. Barnhart received several academic and extra-curricular honors, and earned a Double Major in Political Science/ Government and Spanish. At the University of Minnesota Law School, she served on the Law Review, and graduated in the top 10 percent of her class, earning her J.D. Degree with Honors, and Order of the Coif.
PROFESSIONAL HONORS & AWARDS
Silver Medal, The Royal Society for Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, London, England
Phi Beta Kappa
Order of the Coif
Minnesota Law Review
Law Clerk, The Honorable Walter F. Rogosheske, Minnesota Supreme Court Justice, 1977-1978
MEMBERSHIPS
Ms. Barnhart is or has been a member of, and has served in leadership positions in, several international, American and state bar associations, international chambers of commerce, and organizations pertaining to business and the arts, including those reflected below.
American Bar Association, International Law Section, Past Vice Chair and Member of the Steering Committees of the European Law Committee and the Inter-American Law Committee
American Bar Association, Business Law Section
New York City Bar Association (formerly known as, “The Association of the Bar of the City of New York”), Past Officer, Lectures and Continuing Education Committee and Member, Corporation Law, Securities Regulation, and Inter-American Affairs Committees
New York State Bar Association
Florida State Bar
State Bar of Texas
Minnesota State Bar Association and Hennepin County Bar Association
Norwegian-American Chamber of Commerce and Norwegian Shipping Club of South Florida
Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce
Royal Society for Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce of London, England, Fellow
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
“Acquiring a Business in the United States: Corporate and Business Law Aspects,” Delphilaw Client Seminar, Stockholm, Sweden
“Acquiring a Business in the United States: Corporate and Business Law Aspects and Current Trends,” Selmerlaw Client Seminar, Oslo, Norway
Many Others – Listed under “Lectures & Speaking Engagements.”
PUBLISHED ARTICLES & BOOKS
“Incentives for Wind Energy Development in the United States — 2008,”
EnergyPulse, October 2008
“Opportunities In Sweden & Norway For U.S. Strategic Buyers: Part II Norway,”
The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, June 2007
“Opportunities In Sweden & Norway For U.S. Strategic Buyers: Part I – Sweden,”
The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, May 2007
Others – found in our Resource Center, including Articles & Outlines, Business Law Checklists, and articles posted in Barnhart Law PLC’s Blogs.