Author: yongfu

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Articles Estate and Trust

A Voice That Lives On: The Future of Estate Planning

What if your children could still hear your voice—your stories, your laughter, your love—even after you’re gone?

Thanks to new AI voice technology, that’s now possible. With just a few recordings, you can create a digital voice model that allows your loved ones to hear personal messages, family memories, and life advice in your own voice.

This new option is powerful and deeply personal. But it must be done carefully—with clear legal protection, consent, and secure storage.

If you want to leave your loved ones more than just financial assets—if you want to leave your presence—let’s talk. Contact Lei Jiang LLC to start building a meaningful, modern estate plan that includes everything that matters most.

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Business Estate and Trust Real Estate

Investors! Real Estate Succession Made Simple

For many families and investors, real estate is one of their most valuable assets—whether it’s a rental property, commercial building, or a family home held for generations. But what happens to that property after you’re gone, or if you become unable to manage it? That’s where real estate succession planning comes in.

Why You Need a Succession Plan for Your Properties?

Owning real estate without a plan for the future can lead to:

  • Probate delays and unnecessary legal fees
  • Family disputes over ownership or responsibilities
  • Loss of rental income or mismanagement
  • Tax consequences that could have been avoided

Tools to Make It Happen

Depending on your situation, a well-crafted plan may include:

Living Trusts

By titling your real estate in the name of a revocable living trust, you can avoid probate and ensure a seamless transition of ownership. These trusts are flexible and can be amended as your life or goals change.

Irrevocable Trusts

For those looking for asset protection, estate tax planning, or long-term succession control, an irrevocable trust may be the right tool. Once property is placed into an irrevocable trust:

  • It’s generally removed from your taxable estate.
  • It may be shielded from creditors or Medicaid claims (after a 5-year lookback).
  • You can set firm conditions on how and when heirs receive the property.

LLCs or Partnerships

For commercial or multi-unit residential properties, holding real estate in an LLC or family limited partnership allows for structured management and ownership transfer while offering liability protection.

Transfer-on-Death Affidavits (in some states)

A simple way to name a beneficiary for real estate without going through probate, where available.

Buy-Sell Agreements

Essential for properties co-owned with family or business partners, these agreements outline what happens to each party’s interest in the property if they leave or pass away.

Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late

Succession planning isn’t just for the ultra-wealthy. Even if you own one rental house, making a plan today can prevent serious headaches tomorrow. Work with us—an attorney experienced in real estate and estate planning—to design a plan that meets your specific goals.

Categories
Articles Business

Business Succession Starts with Knowing Your Business Value

If you’re a business owner, you should be able to answer: What is my business worth? Whether you’re planning to retire, transfer ownership to the next generation, or simply want to be ready for opportunities, understanding your company’s value is foundational to smart decision-making.

Why Knowing the Value Matters? It will help you:

  • Plan for ownership transition—whether to family, partners, or outside buyers.
  • Navigate estate planning and tax strategies.
  • Secure appropriate insurance coverage or financing.
  • Benchmark your performance against industry peers.

Value Drivers Go Beyond the Numbers

While financials are central, many qualitative factors influence business value also:

  • Strength of management team
  • Customer diversity and loyalty
  • Operational systems and scalability
  • Market position and competitive edge

These “value drivers” help distinguish your company and make it attractive to successors or investors. Identifying and improving them takes time but is worth huge payoff.

Start Early, Plan Smart and Get Us Involved

Succession planning is not a one-time event—it’s a process. The earlier you begin, the more options you’ll have. Working with us —your attorney and valuation expert — will ensure your plan is legally sound, tax-efficient, and aligned with your personal goals.

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Articles Criminal Defense

Motion to Suppress: A Critical Weapon in Criminal Defense

In Ohio criminal cases, one of the most effective legal tools is the motion to suppress evidence. At Lei Jiang LLC, we often file suppression motions when the government’s evidence was obtained in violation of our client’s constitutional rights.

What Is a Motion to Suppress?

A motion to suppress asks the court to exclude certain evidence from trial because it was obtained unlawfully—typically through:

  • An illegal search of your home, phone, or vehicle;
  • An improper arrest without probable cause;
  • A coerced confession during police interrogation.

Under the Fourth Amendment and Ohio Constitution, if law enforcement violated your rights, the resulting evidence must be thrown out—even if it appears to prove guilt.

Why It Matters

We’ve seen criminal cases dismissed entirely because the key evidence was excluded after a successful suppression hearing. These motions can be decisive in cases such as Drug, Gun charges, Fraud or theft investigations, DUI/OVI arrests, etc.

Protecting Your Rights

At Lei Jiang LLC, we analyze every case to determine whether a motion to suppress is warranted. We understand how to challenge police reports, cross-examine officers, and present constitutional arguments in court.

Charged with a crime in Ohio? Let an experienced Ohio criminal defense attorney fight for your rights.

Categories
Articles Criminal Defense

Charged with a Felony in Ohio? Why Early Defense Makes All the Difference

Facing a felony is one of the most serious legal situations a person can encounter. Whether you’re accused of theft, fraud, or a more serious offense, the outcome can affect your freedom, reputation, and future.

At Lei Jiang LLC, we’ve defended many felony cases, and one truth stands out: getting an experienced lawyer involved early changes everything.

Felony charges range from F5 to F1 in Ohio—each carrying potential prison time, steep fines, and lifelong consequences. The earlier we intervene, the better positioned we are to:

  • Challenge questionable evidence
  • Suppress illegal searches or confessions
  • Negotiate with prosecutors
  • Reduce or dismiss charges

In recent felony cases, we’ve helped clients avoid pretrial detention, suppress unlawfully obtained evidence, and even resolve cases without a trial.

We apply the same care and preparation to felony defense as we do in our civil litigation—clear strategy, constant communication, and tireless advocacy.

Don’t wait. Contact Lei Jiang LLC now to protect your rights and future.

Categories
EB-5

EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022

The 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act was signed into law in March of 2022, and with it came a major reform to the EB-5 system.
The relevant portion of the Act is Div. BB, otherwise known as the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022.

Full Bill Text

Important Takeaways:

More Resources:

Categories
EB-5 Uncategorized

EB-5 Updated Investment Cost

The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act also lays out changes to the EB-5 investment cost.
The new cost is effective March 15, 2022, and will be adjusted by inflation every 5 years based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).

Investment TypeBeforeAfter
Minimum Investment$1,000,000$1,050,000
Targeted Employment Area Investment Amount$500,000$800,000
High Employment Area Investment Amount$1,000,000N/A

These values are given in US Dollars.

A Target Employment Area is either (at time of investment):

  1. A rural area, or
  2. A high unemployment area.

Source: USCIS

Categories
EB-5

EB-5 Immigrant Visa Set Asides

The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act dictates that a certain percentage of EB-5 visas will be set aside for investors who invest in specific areas each fiscal year, the breakdown is as follows:

  • 20% – Rural
    A rural area is any area other than an area within a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) (as designated by the Office of Management and Budget) or within the outer boundary of any city or town having a population of 20,000 or more according to the most recent decennial census of the United States.
  • 10% – High Unemployment
    A high-unemployment area consists of the census tract or contiguous census tracts in which the new commercial enterprise is principally doing business, which may include any or all directly adjacent census tracts, if the weighted average unemployment for the specified area based on the labor force employment measure for each tract is 150% of the national unemployment average.
  • 2% – Infrastructure
    An infrastructure project is a capital investment project in a filed or approved business plan, which is administered by a governmental entity (such as a Federal, State, or local agency or authority) that is the job-creating entity contracting with a regional center or new commercial enterprise to receive capital investment under the regional center program from alien investors or the new commercial enterprise as financing for maintaining, improving, or constructing a public works project.
    Unused visas in these categories are held for use in their respective category for 1 more fiscal year before being released to the general EB-5 visa pool.

Source: USCIS

Categories
Business Firm News

An International Business Dispute

An international dispute pending in the US District Court Northern District of Ohio, case number 1:20-CV-00601-SO has been settled to the parties’ satisfaction. We represented the plaintiff.

The case started in March 2020 when the plaintiff filed its complaint with the district court. Since then, parties filed pleadings, motions and engaged in discovery. Based on newly obtained information, plaintiff filed its amended complaint which drastically changed the landscape of the case. Soon after, both parties were able to sit down and discuss possible resolutions for the dispute. With the court’s assistance, the parties finally settled all issues between them in December 2021.

The case was litigated during the COVID pandemic. Thus, all hearings were conducted in a virtual setting. Plaintiff received just compensation and was satisfied with the result and our service because we maximized the client’s rights and benefits.

International business litigation has many more challenges than routine domestic civil litigation. It also requires additional skills and abilities. For example, the first step – service of process could be a daunting task. In this case, the defendants tried all means to avoid being served. The service alone took many months. Nonetheless, we were good at it, and in the end, we obtained a good result for the client. If you have an international business dispute, please contact us.

© 2021 Copyright by Lei Jiang LLC. All rights reserved.

Categories
Business Firm News

A Successful Five Million Dollar Merger and Acquisition

A five-million-dollar merger and acquisition was concluded right after the Thanksgiving Holiday. The initial closing was set for November 24, 2021, the day before Thanksgiving. Instead it was closed on November 26, 2021.

In this case, the purchaser was a Nasdaq listed company specializing in international education.  It acquired 70% of the ownership of an Ohio private investment company specializing in higher education. This acquisition was done in two steps. The first was the purchasing of the 70% ownership interest. Then, immediately following the first closing, the company subscribed 900 new shares as part of the deal (subscription closing). Two closings were scheduled back-to-back.

There were some challenging issues of the deal which required special skills. For example, the seller company had several classes of shares and non-diluted shares.  Also, the seller company’s shareholders were non-US persons. Finally, the seller company had de facto subsidiaries, including an international subsidiary. All of these factors increased the deal’s complexity.

We represented the seller company and were working around the clock to meet the deadlines. In the end, both closings were successfully completed. Our client was satisfied with our help. Moreover, the client went the extra mile to acknowledge our work by rating us positively on Google. 

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) require high-level skills that are not easily obtainable. Skills and experience from legal areas such as business transaction, taxation, IP, or even immigration may be called together in this type of work.

We are happy with the positive results and synergies created by this deal. Case after case shows that our commitment to our client’s success is real and never fading. If you have M&A work, please contact us.

© 2021 Copyright by Lei Jiang LLC. All rights reserved.

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