Benjamin Hulsey is a corporate advisor and business strategist for a wide variety of privately held businesses, manufacturers, financial institutions, and nonprofits.
Drawing on his decades of legal experience and his previous work as a CPA in both in-house and agency settings, Benjamin fields questions on a diverse array of corporate contract and transactional issues, and provides the common-sense advice that business leaders and boards need to make a decision or move forward with a transaction.
Benjamin assists clients with general corporate and corporate compliance issues, mergers, and other acquisitions and divestitures. He has represented boards and minority shareholders on both sides of shareholder disputes.
For many years, Benjamin has counseled companies on complex technology transfers, technology licensing, joint ventures, and the creation of single-purpose entities. These transactions have frequently involved software and high-tech manufacturing operations, including silicon wafer and polysilicon manufacturing.
Benjamin also has significant experience representing parties in transactions involving domestic oil and gas operations. He has represented individuals leasing land to oil and gas entities, been involved in exploration and production issues, and negotiated long-term gas supply agreements on behalf of major corporate energy users.
Major financial institutions look to Benjamin for assistance in the purchase and sale of tax credits. He has negotiated such deals for LIHTC, historic tax credits, energy tax credits, and film tax credits for projects and developments across the country.
Benjamin is an active leader in the St. Louis civic community and represents nonprofits and charitable organizations in their organization and tax-exempt status, transactions and major contracts, and day-to-day corporate issues.
experience
Corporate guidance for privately-held businesses, nonprofits
- Served as primary corporate counsel to a start-up brewery during its 2011 organization and launch, including guidance on corporate formation, intellectual property, investor relations and human resources.
- Successfully defended a national nonprofit against two separate actions filed by the IRS over the organization’s 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. Led negotiations that resulted in the IRS reinstating the organization as a valid tax-exempt entity and dropping attempts to impose significant late filing penalties over annual information returns.
Mergers and acquisitions
- Negotiated multiple acquisitions for major manufacturing and distribution agreements ranging from $50 million to $500 million, including both asset and stock deals.
Tax credits transactions
- For a major national bank, led multiple purchases of state tax credits nationwide — $500 million in 2015 alone. Some of the transactions handled over the years have included single deals for up to $25 million each.
Oil and gas deals
- Negotiated a complex multi-year gas supply agreement for a major state university across multiple campuses.
Professional
- Society of Petroleum Engineers
- The Missouri Bar
- Illinois State Bar Association
- The American Bar Association
- The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis
- American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
- Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants
- Institute of Professionals in Taxation
Community
- Missouri Botanical Garden
- Board of Trustees
- Executive Committee
- Academy of Science of St. Louis
- Past President; Fellow
- St. Louis Science Center
- Board of Directors
- The Explorers Club
- Chair-National Legal Committee
- American Jewish Committee
- Past Board Member
- Listed in The Best Lawyers in America, (by BL Rankings) 2005-2025
- Named Lawyer of the Year for Information Technology Law in St. Louis by The Best Lawyers in America (by BL Rankings), 2021, 2024
- Listed in Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers, (by Thomson Reuters) 2005-2013
- The Explorers Club President’s Medal for Distinguished Service, 2012