O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong and Laing is pleased to announce that Attorney Christa Wittenberg was recently elected as a shareholder of the firm.

Christa has been with the firm since 2014 as a member of the Litigation Practice Group. She assists businesses and individuals with prosecuting and defending a variety of civil litigation matters. Her practice includes complex contract disputes, trademark and copyright claims, shareholder disputes, inheritance disputes, class actions, personal injury cases, and fraud and conspiracy claims. Before joining the firm, she was a federal district court law clerk.

Christa will be a tremendous addition to the shareholder group, and we are proud to have her on our team.

Grant Killoran, Christa Wittenberg, and Chris Keeler of O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong and Laing’s Litigation Practice Group recently presented at the State Bar of Wisconsin/Pinnacle’s “Annual Constitutional Law Symposium 2019” in Pewaukee, Wisconsin.

Attorney Killoran was the Chair of the symposium and presented on Third Amendment issues. Attorney Wittenberg moderated and presented as part of a panel discussion on due process issues related to public health actions to prevent the spread of contagious diseases. Attorney Keeler co-presented on constitutional issues relating to the incarceration of juveniles.

Attorneys Killoran, Wittenberg, and Keeler were joined at the symposium by speakers from around Wisconsin and the country to discuss various constitutional topics and issues.

Attorney Killoran is a shareholder with the law firm and is the Chair of its Litigation Practice Group. He has significant and diverse trial experience representing clients in Wisconsin State and Federal Courts, and courts around the country, focusing on complex business, health care and employment law disputes.

Attorney Wittenberg is a member of the Litigation Practice Group. She assists businesses and individuals with prosecuting and defending a variety of civil litigation matters, including complex contract disputes, trademark and copyright claims, inheritance disputes, class actions, personal injury cases, and fraud and conspiracy claims. As a former federal district court law clerk, Attorney Wittenberg is intimately familiar with litigation and procedures in federal court. She has also litigated matters in state court, as well as resolved cases through mediation prior to litigation.

Attorney Keeler is a member of the Litigation Practice Group. He concentrates his practice on general business law and complex business litigation by assisting clients with a variety of business and development needs. Additionally, Attorney Keeler devotes a portion of his practice to immigration law, with an emphasis on employment visas and humanitarian matters.

Recently, the Merit Shop Contractor magazine featured Attorney Joseph Gumina’s safety article on construction contractor compliance with OSHA’s fall protection standard (29 C.F.R. § 1926.501). In his article, Attorney Gumina discusses the general requirements of OSHA’s construction industry fall protection standard. Despite the simple requirements of the standard, OSHA’s fall protection standard continues to be the most frequently cited OSHA standard in the construction industry. Attorney Gumina discusses methods to eliminate, prevent, and control fall hazards on the worksite with a special emphasis on fall protection training so that employees can avoid fall hazards and contractors can achieve effective safety compliance.

Read the full article here.

O’Neil Cannon has been ranked in the 2020 U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” list in 17 practice areas:

• Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
• Bet-the-Company Litigation
• Commercial Litigation
• Construction Law
• Corporate Law
• Family Law
• Litigation – Bankruptcy
• Litigation – Insurance
• Litigation – Labor and Employment
• Mergers and Acquisitions Law
• Municipal Law
• Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
• Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
• Real Estate Law
• Securities / Capital Markets Law
• Tax Law
• Trusts and Estates Law

Firms included in the 2020 “Best Law Firms” list are recognized for professional excellence with persistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. Achieving a tiered ranking signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise.

Recently Attorneys Christa Wittenberg and Grant Killoran were featured in the State Bar of Wisconsin publication Wisconsin Lawyer. In the article, they discuss the hot topic of measles and the due process implications of public health responses.

Read the full article here.

Attorneys Carl D. Holborn and Britany E. Morrison were recently published in the Taxation of Exempts, a Thomson Reuters journal.

There is a big unresolved public policy issue in the philanthropic world—private foundations and their use of donor-advised funds (DAF). Specifically, the issue is whether distributions made by private foundations to donor-advised funds should be treated as “qualifying distributions” for purposes of the 5% annual payout rule.

While the issue was sparsely debated before, the IRS really stirred the debate in the charitable world with the issuance of Notice 2017-73. The Notice specifically requests comments on whether a contribution to a DAF by a private foundation should be considered a distribution that counts as a “qualifying distribution” for the purposes of the annual 5% payout rule. [1] Comments in response to the Notice poured in and opinions were deeply divided between those in favor of reform to disallow or limit “qualifying distributions” to DAFs and those in full defense of the IRS maintaining the status quo.

Two years have passed since the Notice issuance and the IRS has yet to issue an any regulations or proposed regulations. This article highlights some of the major arguments for reform, limits, and the status quo regarding private foundations distributions to DAFs “counting” as qualified distributions.

Read full article here.

O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong and Laing is pleased to announce that Attorney JB Koenings and Attorney Erica Reib were recently elected as shareholders of the firm.

JB has been with the firm since 2010, first as a law clerk and then as an attorney in 2011. He works with and advises clients on a wide range of business law matters, including form of entity selection and initial capitalization, raising funds through private equity offerings, securities compliance and broker/dealer matters, mergers and acquisitions, contract preparation and negotiation, and software, technology, and IP matters.

Learn more about JB Koenings by visiting his full profile.

Erica has been with the firm since 2014 and is a member of the Employment Law Practice Group. She assists clients with employment discrimination litigation, non-competition and trade secret litigation, wage and hour issues, NLRB and unfair labor practice matters, employment policy and agreement drafting and review, unemployment compensation, investigations and proper employment practices to avoid litigation.

Learn more about Erica Reib by visiting her full profile.

We are pleased to add both JB and Erica as shareholders.

We are saddened to announce the passing of William Ryan Drew, who served of counsel at O’Neil Cannon for more than thirty years.

Bill was a tireless public servant for the citizens of Milwaukee as an elected and appointed official serving in many capacities over the decades, including: Director of Administration for Milwaukee County, Commissioner of City Development for the City of Milwaukee, Treasurer of the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, President of the Milwaukee Common Council, and Fourth District Milwaukee Alderman. In addition, he served as President of the Board of Directors for the City of Milwaukee Retiree’s Association, Board of Directors for the National Center for Housing Management, and was on the Board of Visitors for the Les Aspin Center for Government at Marquette University.

His counsel will be missed dearly by our firm. Our prayers and thoughts are with his family.

Patrick G. McBride, shareholder in O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong and Laing’s Litigation Practice Group, was recently elected Fellows of the Wisconsin Law Foundation.

The Fellows organization was created in 1999 as a special means to honor members of the State Bar of Wisconsin who have achieved significant accomplishments in their career and have contributed leadership and service to their communities. Membership in the Fellows is limited to 2.5% of the State Bar of Wisconsin’s total members.

The Fellows aims to energize its members to continue their efforts in the promotion of justice, advancement of the legal profession, and improvement of legal education. For more information on the Fellows click here.

O’Neil Cannon is pleased to announce that eighteen lawyers have been named to the 2020 Edition of Best Lawyers, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession.
Best Lawyers has published their list for over three decades, earning the respect of the profession, the media, and the public as the most reliable, unbiased source of legal referrals. Its first international list was published in 2006 and since then has grown to provide lists in over 75 countries.

“For more than a third of the century,” says CEO Steven Naifeh, “Best Lawyers has been the gold standard of excellence in the legal profession.” President Phil Greer adds, “We are extremely proud of that record and equally proud to acknowledge the accomplishments of these exceptional legal professionals.”

Lawyers on The Best Lawyers in America list are divided by geographic region and practice areas. They are reviewed by their peers on the basis of professional expertise, and undergo an authentication process to make sure they are in current practice and in good standing.

We would like to congratulate the following attorneys named to the 2020 Best Lawyers in America list:

• Douglas P. Dehler – Litigation – Insurance
• James G. DeJong – Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Securities / Capital Markets Law
• Seth E. Dizard – Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Litigation Bankruptcy
• Peter J. Faust – Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law
• John G. Gehringer – Commercial Litigation, Construction Law, Corporate Law, Real Estate Law
• Joseph E. Gumina – Litigation – Labor and Employment
• Dennis W. Hollman – Corporate Law, Trusts and Estates
• Grant C. Killoran – Litigation – Health Care
• Dean P. Laing – Commercial Litigation, Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs, Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
• Gregory W. Lyons – Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Insurance
• Patrick G. McBride – Commercial Litigation
• Thomas A. Merkle – Family Law
• Chad J. Richter – Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships)
• John Schreiber – Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Litigation – Bankruptcy
• Steven J. Slawinski – Construction Law

Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey. Over 54,000 leading attorneys cast more than 7.3 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas. Lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed; therefore inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”