A thorough due diligence process is fundamental to a successful merger and acquisition transaction. A robust due diligence process looks at many topics including the company’s financials, operations, sourcing strategies, corporate and organization matters, intellectual property, tax, human resources, and benefits. From a legal perspective, we look at corporate organizational matters, ownership issues, ownership of intellectual property, whether there is any pending litigation, sometimes human resources and benefit issues, contractual obligations, any restraints there might be on the company’s ability to do business. Legal counsel should be brought into the transaction early in the process to do some high-level due diligence on fundamental issues. If risks are identified in due diligence, first pause, and evaluate the risk or potential problem, consider your risk tolerance, then consider risk mitigation strategies, and finally decide if you want to pursue this transaction.