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Jennifer L. Weaver
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Counsel for the full life of a business, from formation to transition. Jennifer brings a practical, holistic perspective to the legal needs of business owners and the companies they build.
About
Jennifer’s practice focuses on general corporate transactions, mergers and acquisitions, business succession planning, and employment law, complemented by an earlier background in estate planning. This breadth of experience allows her to offer business owners a distinctive, well-rounded perspective at every stage of a company’s life cycle—from formation and growth through eventual sale or transition.
Jennifer has practiced law at Manning Fulton since 2003. With a practice that spans the firm’s Raleigh and Durham offices, and a home in Durham, she enjoys working with clients throughout the Triangle and across the state.
Jennifer’s clients are typically closely-held or family-owned businesses, ranging from start-ups and small operations with fewer than ten employees to large companies with several hundred. Her client base includes medical practices, engineering and professional services firms, building trades and construction professionals, retail and wholesale sales organizations, manufacturers, technology companies, restaurants, property management and real estate development companies, and even a few other law firms.
Corporate Practice
In her corporate practice, Jennifer counsels clients on the business implications of forming, operating, converting, and dissolving S-corporations, limited liability companies, joint ventures, and partnerships. She serves as ongoing counsel to companies on a wide range of corporate and business matters, including drafting and negotiating contracts and licenses.
The transition of a business—whether through merger, acquisition, or estate planning—can be an uncertain and stressful process. With an eye toward the end goal, Jennifer guides clients from the initial stages of letters of intent and term sheets, through due diligence, and on to a successfully closed transaction. She also works with business owners to structure wealth and business transfers, including business succession planning, family limited partnerships, and limited liability companies, with particular attention to seamless generational transitions when owners choose to pass their businesses to employees or children.
Estate and Trust Planning
Because the future of a family business is so often inseparable from the future of the family itself, Jennifer also guides business owners and their families through estate and trust planning. She helps clients design plans that protect what they have built, provide for loved ones, and minimize the uncertainty that so often accompanies the transfer of wealth across generations.
Jennifer understands that these matters are rarely just legal or financial—they are deeply personal, and often arise during periods of significant emotional weight. She brings both technical skill and steady, compassionate judgment to her role as trustee, having guided families through difficult and emotionally complex circumstances, including disputes among beneficiaries, the administration of trusts following a loved one’s death, and the sensitive work of balancing a family’s wishes with its long-term financial wellbeing.
Employment Law Practice
Recognizing that employers invest considerable resources in their employees—as well as in their proprietary information, trade secrets, and customer relationships—Jennifer takes a proactive approach to employment law. She believes that sound planning at the outset prevents a host of problems down the road and protects an employer’s most valuable investments.
That planning begins with a clear and solid hiring process, followed by a well-drafted employee handbook and carefully constructed employment, nondisclosure, non-competition, non-solicitation, and severance agreements. Jennifer also helps employers reduce the risks associated with independent contractors by negotiating and drafting their service agreements.
Drawing on her combined experience in corporate transactions and employment law, Jennifer helps clients anticipate and address employment-related issues that arise in the context of corporate deals—including employment-related due diligence, negotiation of executive employment and noncompetition agreements, and post-closing workforce integration.
Credentials
Education
- Duke University School of Law Taylor Albright Scholar and Merit Scholarship
- Smith College Psi Chi Honor Society, Dean’s List
Admitted to Practice
- State of North Carolina
- United States District Court for the Eastern and Middle Districts of North Carolina
Professional Memberships & Activities
- Recognized in Best Lawyers in America in the practice areas of Business Organizations, Corporate Law, and Mergers & Acquisitions Law (2016-2027)
- Recognized by North Carolina Super Lawyers (2017-2026) for Business & Corporate, Employment & Labor, and Mergers & Acquisitions
- Rising Star – 2009-2011
- Listed in Business North Carolina Magazine’s Legal Elite in the practice area of Corporate Law (2012, 2014, 2016-2018, 2020-2022, 2024-2026) and in the Young Guns category (2008)
- North Carolina Bar Association (2001-2024)
- Business Law Section – Vice Chair (2023-2025); Chair (2025-Present)
- Business Law Council (2013-Present)
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- North Carolina Secretary of State Liaison (2016-2026)
- Secretary – 2013-2015
- Co-Chair – Business Law and International Law and Practice Sections Joint Annual Meetings – Co-Chair – 2014
- Planning Committee – Business Law and International Law and Practice Sections Joint Annual Meetings – 2013
- Planner – Basics of Business Law – 2012
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- Women in the Profession Committee
- Business Law Council (2013-Present)
- Wake County Bar Association
- Durham County Bar Association
- Manning Fulton Practice Group Co-Leader, Corporate/Tax/Estates Section (2022-Present)
- Manning Fulton Management Committee (2026)
Representative Transactions
Corporate Law, Mergers & Acquisitions
- Represented family office of real estate investment and management company holding over 300 units
- Created portfolio of standard documents for software company
- Sale of insurance company to strategic buyer
- Represented agricultural company in multi-million dollar cooperative arrangement
- Directed diligence and negotiated risk allocation in $70,000,000 sale for 15 location Raleigh-HQ retail company to private equity fund
- Raleigh-based software company to venture backed strategic acquiror
- International services company with Raleigh HQ in sale to private equity company for $50,000,000
- Nationwide services company with Raleigh HQ in $40,000,000 sale to private equity fund
- Raleigh-based construction company in purchase of specialty subcontractor
- Raleigh-based security company in sale to strategic acquiror
- Durham-based family services company in sale to strategic acquiror
- Represented regulatory and clinical contract research organization in the process of substantial due diligence and negotiation of a sale
- Represented traditional industry company with multi-million dollar sale and leaseback transaction
- Represented real estate investment group in purchase of 1,200-acre retirement community
- Represent real estate development companies with the preparation and negotiation of documents associated with assembling investors for purchases of multiple apartment communities
- Represent development companies with the preparation and negotiation of tenants-in-common arrangements associated with purchases of multiple apartment communities
- Represent insurance agencies and investment brokers in their expansion via the purchase of other agencies and companies and in their consolidations by way of the sale of branch offices
- Represented a family-owned funeral home in their sale to a national funeral home company
- Represented engineering company with regard to internal shareholder disputes, negotiation of shareholder agreements, and negotiation of third-party contracts
- Represented medical practice in the negotiation of a software development agreement
- Represented veterinarian in the sale of interest in veterinary practice and associate real estate
- Represented locally owned landscape company with regard to the due diligence and negotiation of employment agreements associated with a sale to a national landscape company
- Represented New York-based investment group with investment in Texas technology company
- Represented managed hosting company in a $140 million sale to a private equity company
- Represented European company in purchase of private label manufacturing company with production facilities in Honduras and Nicaragua
- Represented pharmaceutical service company in $56 million sale in leveraged buyout transaction
- Represents individual and closely-held buyers and sellers in merger and acquisition transactions
- Assisted technology companies with the preparation and implementation of licensing agreements, software agreements and service agreements
- Assisted restaurant and bar with state and federal regulatory matters
- Formed and organized corporations, limited liability companies, and partnerships, including preparation of organizational documents, operating agreements, shareholders’ agreements, buy-sell agreements, and joint-venture agreements
- Represents professional groups, including physicians, dentists, and engineers, with general corporate matters, negotiation of shareholders’ agreements and operating agreements, employment agreements and associated negotiations, merger, acquisition and sale transactions
- Represented Raleigh-based dealership in sale to Florida private equity company
- Represented high profile consumer products company in sale to North Carolina private equity company
- Represented regional North Carolina customer services company in purchase of strategic competitor
- Represented local charitable organization in development of community park
- Represented local mechanical products company in purchase of South Carolina strategic competitor
- Represented regional North Carolina greenscapes company in investment from North Carolina private equity company
- Represented local real estate investment company in general corporate restructuring
- Represented local restaurant with general corporate needs
Employment Law
- Negotiated executive employment agreements for business owner in connection with sale of closely-held business
- Conducted due diligence related to employment documentation on behalf of restoration and mitigation company in preparation for acquisition
- Prepared employment agreements and independent contractor agreements for medical device company
- Prepared detailed employee handbooks for insurance agencies, law firms, trade organizations and physician practices
- Conducted sexual harassment investigation for established manufacturing company and managed internal structural changes and updates to policies and procedures in light of the investigation
- Prepared standard employment agreements, non-disclosure agreements and noncompetition agreements for many clients across various industries
Family Business/Succession Planning
- Negotiated transition of family real estate business from founder to children and identified resulting estate planning changes and gifting program
- Assisted family insurance business in strategic transfer of stock of company to children involved in the business
- Assisted founder of family real estate business in strategic estate planning and gifting program to support continued success of business
Community Engagement
St. Philips Episcopal Church
Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce
- Executive Women’s Task Force (2009-2010, 2011-2012)
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- Chair 2010-2011
- Working Mothers Task Force (2011-2012)
- Chair 2011-2012
North Carolina School-Based Health Alliance (NCSBHA)
- Board of Directors 2010-2016
North Carolina Museum of Life and Science