Contract Negotiation and Renegotiation

Dr. Charlotte Lacroix owns and manages Veterinary Business Advisors, Inc., a consulting firm which advises veterinarians and attorneys nationwide on veterinary business and legal issues, with a focus on veterinary business transactions.  Dr. Lacroix received her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine in 1988 from the University of California at Davis.  After completing a large animal internship at the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada), she worked for several years at an equine medical and surgical referral practice serving northern New Jersey’s large equine community.  In pursuit of her goal to make greater contributions to the veterinary profession, Dr. Lacroix attended law school and received her Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.  She is licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

            Dr. Lacroix is a skilled negotiator and business strategist.  She assists her clients in determining the relevant and important business aspects of a diverse array of transactions.  Her legal and consulting activities include: legal document preparation and negotiation; advising on all aspects of veterinary partnerships, including associate buy-ins, specialty and general practice governance and management, and partner retirement and withdrawals; succession planning; negotiating and facilitating the purchase and sale of practices of all types, as well as, entity selection and start-ups; consulting on issues unique to specialty practices; assisting with all employment related and human resource issues; and advising on malpractice cases, animal law and welfare, drugs and biologics, medical records/informed consents, veterinary ethics and other legal and business problems.  Dr. Lacroix lectures extensively on all these topics nationwide and overseas, and is a frequent speaker at AVMA, NAVC, WVC, VSIPP and other veterinary association and industry meetings and seminars. She is also an enthusiastic adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

            Dr. Lacroix is a regular contributor to the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, NAVC’s Today’s Veterinary Business and Veterinary Practice News, Impromed, American Animal Hospital Association, Veterinary Clinics of North America and Veterinary Economics-DVM360 publications. She has written numerous other articles, contributed to several books, and appeared on radio and television.  Dr. Lacroix also volunteers her time and expertise to veterinary and other organizations, including AVMA, AAHA, AAEP, NJVMA, and PVMA. She was the 2014-2015 President of the NAVC and is currently Chair of the Board of PetsPAC and Board member of the Veterinary Innovation Council. Dr. Lacroix was recognized and awarded by Lawyer Monthly “2016 Women in Law”. She was awarded “Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs” in 2018 among approximately 1000 other nominations.

Dr. Langenbach, owner and chief of surgery, is a Diplomate of the American and European Colleges of Veterinary Surgeons. She earned her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine in 1992 from the University of Munich, College of Veterinary Medicine in Germany, and was awarded a scholarship to pursue a combined American and German education. She spent most of her third year of veterinary school at Kansas State University and part of her fourth year at Ohio State University, Cornell University, and Animal Medical Center of New York. After receiving her veterinary degree, she continued her studies with a one-year internship followed by a three-year residency program at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine. During her residency, she completed a doctoral thesis with the University of Zurich, Switzerland, on Medical Patellar Luxation and Hip Dysplasia in Cats. With her residency finished, she accepted a lectureship position with the University of Pennsylvania.

In 1998, Dr. Langenbach achieved Diplomate status as a board-certified surgeon. Since her time at the university, she has published several articles, authored a book chapter, and has presented at many regional, national, and international meetings. She is currently collaborating with North Carolina State University on clinical studies. Her clinical interests include arthroscopy; canine and feline dysostosis; orthopedic disease, such as cranial cruciate disease; elbow and hip dysplasia; and oncologic and reconstructive surgery.