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Taylor A. Gast

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Lansing
313 South Washington Square
Lansing, MI 48933-2114
T 517.371.8238
F 517.371.8200

Overview

Taylor Gast helps businesses and organizations of all sizes and at all stages of development grow and solve problems. He provides practical and thoughtful advice on issues including technology law, data privacy and cybersecurity, startups, mergers and acquisitions, compliance, taxation, and contracting. His breadth of legal expertise complements his focus on providing practical guidance to help businesses grow and address challenges. He is based in Lansing and counsels clients in Detroit, Grand Rapids, and throughout Michigan.

  • Outside General Counsel and Compliance: Serves as trusted outside general counsel to a variety of businesses, including technology companies, major financial institutions such as banks and credit unions. He works hard to build a deep understanding of each client’s business and goals to provide tailored advice. He provides thoughtful support regarding regulatory compliance, taxation, contracting, corporate governance, finance, and other areas.
    • Has significant experience with mergers and acquisitions, compliance and licensing issues, and other strategic initiatives. Experienced with state and federal income tax audits and disputes related to business taxes, state sales and use tax, and other tax issues. He also advises clients on employee benefits issues, ERISA, and executive compensation, including non-qualified deferred compensation plans.
  • Information Technology Law: Has significant experience with issues that arise at the intersection of business, technology, and the law. He assists businesses, municipalities and organizations of all sizes in preparing for, and responding to data privacy and cybersecurity incidents, including data breaches. He has assisted organizations in consistently communicating with customers, employees, investigators, state attorneys general, and agencies like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) after a data privacy incident occurs. Experience designing, installing, and maintaining proactive cybersecurity and privacy programs for a variety of organizations. Additionally, he is proficient with the many sector-specific regulations affecting data privacy including the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, HIPAA, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and the multitude of state legislation passed in recent years, as well as foreign rules like the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
    • Frequently assists with business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) contracting and procurement within and outside of technology-heavy industries, and he advises clients regarding intellectual property issues, the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), licensing agreements, and joint development agreements.
  • Mergers and Acquisitions: Taylor works with clients to purchase and sell businesses and is a key part of Foster Swift’s deal team. He counsels clients on transaction structuring, tax implications, negotiating letters of intent, due diligence, purchase and sale documents, and both pre- and post-closing issues.
  • Startups, Entrepreneurs, and Emerging Growth Companies: Frequently works with entrepreneurs to identify complex issues and break them down into clear business decisions and action items. He has significant experience forming LLCs, corporations, and other business entities, and working through the issues that startups and emerging growth companies encounter, including entity selection, raising capital, protecting assets, and exiting through a sale of the business, going public, or a succession plan.

Honors & Recognitions

"Top 5 Under 35" Award, Ingham County Bar Association, 2020

Michigan Super Lawyers "Rising Star," Business/Corporate, 2021-2022

Affiliations

Memberships & Affiliations

Legal Affiliations:

  • State Bar of Michigan
    • Business Law Section
    • Information Technology Law Section
    • Intellectual Property Section
    • Taxation Section

Professional Affiliations:

  • International Association of Privacy Professionals

Community Involvement:

  • Michigan Technology Network—Lansing, Director
  • Arts Council of Greater Lansing, Director
  • Impression 5 Science Center, Director
  • University of Michigan Alumni Association

Experience

Representative Matters

  • Helped a large, multinational software company respond to a data security incident involving all of its users by determining whether the incident constituted a “breach” under relevant laws and regulations, resolving complex conflict of law issues, assessing who should be notified, navigating regulatory investigations, and mitigating the potential costs of litigation.
  • Advised countless entrepreneurs on forming their businesses, growing them through outside investment, and sustaining them as they added employees and negotiated contracts, handling other legal issues as they arose.
  • Assisted an innovative technology manufacturing client in partnering with a globally-recognized brand by licensing its proprietary technology to create a new jointly-developed product.
  • Helped financial institutions pursue growth strategies by seeking regulatory approval to open new branches, and in all aspects of acquiring several new branch locations.
  • Advised Michigan-based clients with sales activity throughout the United States on compliance with sales, income, and other federal, state, and local taxes, and worked to negotiate settlement of past liabilities, mitigating significant potential audit costs.
  • Worked with a client to understand the options for withdrawing from public pension system, execute withdrawal from public pension system, and create a more solid foundation to grow its business in the future.
  • Helped a growing business client choose between several non-qualified deferred compensation plans, discussed the plans’ tax implications, and worked with the client to begin plan administration, allowing them to better incentivize and retain key employees.

Communications

Recent Blog Posts

BizTech Law Blog

Publications

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News & Events

Speaking Engagements

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News

Media

Intellectual Property

Data Protection, Cybersecurity and Third Party Vendor Management: Introduction
Data Protection, Cybersecurity and Third Party Vendor Management: Introduction
Data Protection, Cybersecurity and Third Party Vendor Management: Shifting Focus
Data Protection, Cybersecurity and Third Party Vendor Management: Shifting Focus

Small Business Resources

Vendor Management
Vendor Management
Lansing
Southfield
Grand Rapids
Detroit
Holland
St. Joseph