William Reid Cumming

Bill Cumming is a top notch business attorney who created our corporate documents, sits on our Board of Directors and has served as our corporate attorney for several years. He is detailed, knowledgeable and extremely attentive to his clients. Because Bill is proactive, he keeps our firm in complia...nce with all the latest government regulations. For these reasons I will continue to recommend Bill Cumming to my friends and business associates.

As VP of Finance & Administration at a local Senior Care construction company, my role was to ensure that we also had good legal representation. As an inudstry, over 30% of contracts end up in a legal dispute of one form or another. Having worked with several other legal counsels, there was very li...ttle out-of-the-box thinking when problems came up. Mr. Cumming is a also personal friend of mine and I've hesitated for a while to mix business with friendship. However, when we had a particularly difficult case where a middle-man in a purchasing transaction went out of business leaving both us and the manufacturer with a massive problem, I knew that I had to talk to Bill. To make matters worse, our purchasing team failed to timely secure some lien releases. Onthe other hand, the manufacturer's joint-check request delivery was delayed and when received it was too late. Payment had been made and the vendor out of business. To us the construction company, we faced a potential loss of over $100,000 on a project that already had thin margins. After reviewing all the facts, Bill made us aware of the fact that we were in a no-win position. Then he asked a strange question (at least from a Lawyer's standpoint). "Would you buy any further products from this manufacturer?" The answer was an enphatic "yes." Then Bill suggested leveraging future purchases in exchange for a significant discount. What's more, he suggested that it would not be in our interest that he, our legal counsel, be the one negotiating this deal. He felt that we had a greater chance of success by getting all the lawyers out of the way. We worked on a strategy and on the appointed day, I met with the manufacturer's legal team. As the meeting progressed, I realized that Bill's strategy was the only one that made sense. I shocked the other team by boldly outlining the proposed settlement (even acknowledging that I was in no bargaining position) and made them an offer that only the manufacturer top decision maker could accept. This forced then to go back and outline the terms of the proposal. To my surprise and relief, 2 days later, the response came back positive and the deal was approved as proposed. To my company, we only paid out 33% of the initial exposure and we gained a superb relationship being able to buy materials at a deeper discount directly from the manufacturer. We quickly moved to designate him as our lead legal counsel from that day forward. That was the 1st case that Bill Cumming handled. I've got a dozen more like that that clearly illustrate the fact that Bill is first and foremost a problem solver who uses the law when all else fails. We've enjoyed a tremendously rewarding relationship with him until recently when the company headquarters was relocated to the East Coast. Compared to all the attorneys I've interacted with, Bill is by far the most unique attorney primarily because of his out-of-the-box thinking that bring a new perspective to the discussion table. What's more, a few times we had cases that were outside of his area of expertise and he immediately let us know about that and helped out bt selecting other attorneys from his vast network. His feedback and follow up were without reproach. He made my job a lot easier to manage on the Risk Management side of things.

Within the sector of business my firm operates, we are often trust into wotking with companies or individuals with less than professional business practices. Needless to say, this fact can be taxing on a business owner such as myself. We here at Splash Plumbing and New Technology Plumbing have depend...ed on the ethical, professional and wise counsel of Mr. Cummings firm for several years. Our requirements for professional law intervention ranges from simple collections to mechanic lien foreclosures. All of which have been handled promptly and with detailed care. In the vent the reader of this post is in need of a law firm with tact and ethics, I would highly recommend Cumming and Associates. Daniel Gratz President Spash Plumbing

We benefitted greatly from Mr. Cumming's knnowledge and experience in this area of the law and felt relieved throughout the process, particularly at the bankruptcy hearing. His work was thorough and complete and his clear explanations made the entire process much easier to comprehend, especially leg...al issues. Our bankruptcy has been discharged and the case closed. A few additional items relating to the bankruptcy have subsequently risen involving our other business affairs. Mr. Cumming has been very responsive in answering our questions which enabled us to respond in an appropriate manner. We are very pleased to provide this review and wish to particularly stress our appreciation for the sound fiscal counsel and advice he provided. This has been instrumental in enabling us to rebuild our financial plan and a new life of debt free living without credit cards.

I have used Bill's services over the last 5 years. I work with small businesses as a lender and a consultant. There have been many occasions that I have recommended Bill to my clients and not one has been disappointed. His responses and recommendations have been quick and he seems to always giv...e them the property direction and guidance they need to resolve their business issues. Bills knowledge of small business is amazing and he has become a valuable resource to me. He has helped me grow my business and reputation by being such a great legal resource. Bob Hammond Pacific Capital Lending Group