Margaret Williford, a member of the firm’s Business Practice Group, was born in Evansville, Indiana. She is a 1978 magna cum laude graduate of Indiana University School of Law in Bloomington where she was on the Indiana University Law Review staff and a member of the Order of the Coif. During her career, Margaret has had extensive corporate and business law experience both as an in-house corporate counsel and in the private practice of the law. Her in-house experience includes acting as corporate counsel for companies in a wide variety of industries, ranging from manufacturing to software and database development. She has been Vice President and Corporate Counsel of CCC Information Services, Inc., a software and database service provider located in Chicago; Vice President and Associate General Counsel of Canteen Corporation, a food service corporation located in Chicago; and Associate General Counsel of Inland Steel Company.
In private practice, Margaret has represented, and acted as general counsel for, a number of small and medium-sized businesses located in Northwest Indiana, advising them on all legal issues arising in their business. Margaret has extensive experience in all areas of corporate, business, commercial, transactional and real estate law. She has been involved in numerous asset purchases and divestitures, stock purchases and sales, joint venture and partnership formations, as well as corporate reorganizations and restructuring. She has also negotiated and drafted documentation for large commercial bank loan transactions and has advised clients on bank loan compliance issues.
Margaret has developed corporate systems and procedures to protect trade secrets and other forms of intellectual property, has negotiated and drafted software and database licensing agreements, and has advised on copyright and trademark protection issues. Margaret’s experience also includes franchise agreement management, review and compliance and negotiating and drafting distribution, value-added reseller and sales representative agreements. Her real estate experience includes negotiating and drafting documents for commercial leasing transactions and real estate purchases and sales. Margaret is also experienced in contract negotiation and drafting, business entity planning and formation, buy-sell agreements and business succession planning, and corporate compliance issues.
Margaret is Vice President and Board Member of the Shirley Heinze Land Trust, Inc., a not for profit land trust in Northwestern Indiana and is an active community volunteer.