Jeff is Chair of Boardman Clark’s Business Practice Group and leads its Restaurant & Hospitality and Agribusiness subgroups. His business practice includes company formation, mergers and acquisitions, business succession planning and reorganization, shareholder agreements and other agreements among owners, and contract drafting and interpretation.
Jeff also works with executive compensation agreements and employee benefits plans, including change in control agreements, SERPs and other nonqualified deferred compensation agreements subject to Code Section 409A, ESOPs, 401(k), 403(b), profit sharing, pension, health and cafeteria plans, and health savings accounts. He has extensive experience in tax, ERISA, and other regulatory compliance.
Jeff is a co-author on Data Trace Publishing’s manual on Wisconsin limited liability company (LLC) operating agreements and other forms. He has drafted and restated operating agreements and partnership agreements for many professional service firms and other businesses. He strives to draft clear documents that can be easily understood while still protecting his client’s interests.
In a prior life, Jeff owned a restaurant on the southeast side of Madison and knows first-hand the challenges small business owners face. Jeff takes care of the “legal red tape” so that his clients can focus on running their business. His ideal clients are business owners who are looking not just for a lawyer, but a trusted advisor.
Representative Work
Some of Jeff’s representative work for business owners includes:
- Purchase and sales of restaurants and related real estate in and around Madison, Baraboo, Wisconsin Dells, and elsewhere
- Purchases by a franchised services company of several of its competitors
- Purchases by a professional services firm of several of its competitors
- Restructuring and transfers of many closely held businesses, including family farms, to succeeding generations
- The merger of two agricultural equipment providers
- Start up, sales, and ongoing representation of various large and small animal veterinary practices
- The sale by several shareholders of an engineering company to a 100% employee-owned ESOP
- The sale by a 100% shareholder of an outdoor services company to a 100% employee-owned ESOP
- The sale by founders of a bookstore to their employees
- The tax-free spinoff of a grocery and convenience store operation
- Restating and amending many LLC operating agreements to provide ownership to employees, including profits interests
Admitted to Practice
- Wisconsin State Courts
Presentations, Publications, & Contributions
- Co-author with Patrick P. Neuman, "Wisconsin Limited Liability Company: Forms and Practice Manual," Data Trace Inc., 2013-Present
- Speaker on numerous topics, including choice of business entity, drafting limited liability company and partnership agreements, using ESOPs for business succession planning, health savings accounts, and COBRA
Community Involvement & Board Memberships
- Worldbuilders Inc., Board Member, 2020-2023
- Madison Originals Restaurant Group, Board Member, 2011-2015
Professional Memberships
- American Bar Association
- Business Law Section
- Taxation Section
- State Bar of Wisconsin
- Business Law Section
- Taxation Section
- Sauk County Bar Association
Education
- J.D., magna cum laude, University of Wisconsin Law School, 2000
- Order of the Coif
- B.S., French, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1990
Jeff’s Latest Writing & Presentations
The Deadline for Entities to Report BOI is Fast Approaching
Business Minute | 11.04.24
The January 1, 2025, reporting deadline for entities formed or registered before 2024 is fast approaching. (The reporting deadline for entities formed or registered this year is 90 days after formation or registration.) Many entities waited to file to see if reporting requirements would be changed or eliminated, whether due to new legislation or the results of several lawsuits challenging the CTA and BOI reporting requirements. However, to date no determinative lawsuit decisions or new legislation have changed the general requirements. Waiting until the last minute to report is risky.