Earlier this month, for the third consecutive year, O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong and Laing S.C. proudly sponsored the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) reception at the Wisconsin Club, downtown Milwaukee. Attendance was the highest it has been in years, making the event one of the most successful that CRS has ever held in Milwaukee.

Catholic Relief Services is one of the largest international aid organizations in the world. It is also one of the most efficient and effective, with 97% of its expenditures going directly to programs that benefit individuals overseas. CRS works to alleviate suffering and provide assistance to more than 100 million people in need who live in some of the most impoverished places in over 100 countries.

O’Neil Cannon is honored to have been a part of such a meaningful event.
Read more about CRS >>

O’Neil Cannon is pleased to announce that Attorney Dean Laing was recently selected as the 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” for Product Liability Litigation–Defendants in the Milwaukee area. This is the third time that Best Lawyers has recognized Dean as the “Lawyer of the Year.” In 2016 he was selected for the honor in Product Liability Litigation–Defendants, and in 2012 he was selected for the honor in Personal Injury Litigation. Dean is believed to be the only attorney in Wisconsin to receive “Lawyer of the Year” as both a plaintiff’s attorney and a defense attorney.

Only a single lawyer in each practice area and designated metropolitan area is honored as the “Lawyer of the Year,” making this accolade particularly significant. These lawyers are selected based on particularly impressive voting averages received during the peer-review assessments.

Receiving this designation reflects the high level of respect a lawyer has earned among other leading lawyers in the same communities and the same practice areas for their abilities, their professionalism, and their integrity.

In addition to the Lawyer of the Year award, Attorney Laing was also listed in the 2019 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America in three categories: Commercial Litigation, Personal Injury Litigation–Plaintiffs, and Product Liability Litigation–Defendants.

Since the list was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence.

Attorney Jessica K. Haskell, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School, has joined the Milwaukee law firm O’Neil Cannon Jessica will join the firm’s Banking and Creditors’ Rights Practice Group. Jessica comes to us after clerking for the Honorable G. Michael Halfenger of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Her experience is a welcomed addition to the firm’s  Banking and Creditors’ Rights Practice Group, which provides legal services for court-appointed receivers, secured and unsecured creditors, financial institutions, and corporations in a wide range of state and federal court matters. We are very pleased to have Jessica join OCHDL.

O’Neil Cannon, founded in Milwaukee in 1973, is a full-service legal practice that primarily focuses on providing business law and civil litigation services to closely-held businesses and their owners. The firm represents corporations, institutions, and partnerships at all stages of the business life cycle, helping them start, grow and transition from one generation to the next. We also assist business owners with their personal legal needs including tax and estate planning, family law and litigation—including personal injury litigation.

O’Neil Cannon is pleased to announce that 20 lawyers have been named to the 2019 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.

O’Neil Cannon would like to congratulate the following attorneys named to the 2019 Best Lawyers in America list:

• Douglas P. Dehler – Litigation – Insurance
• James G. DeJong – Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Corporate Law, Securities / Capital Markets Law
• Seth E. Dizard – Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Litigation – Bankruptcy
• Peter J. Faust – Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Corporate Law
• Robert R. Gagan – Municipal Law
• John G. Gehringer – Real Estate Law, Construction Law, Commercial Litigation, Corporate Law
• Joseph E. Gumina – Litigation – Labor and Employment
• Dennis W. Hollman – Trusts and Estates, Corporate Law
• 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
• Gregory S Mager – Family Law
• Patrick G. McBride – Commercial Litigation
• Thomas A. Merkle – Family Law
• Chad J. Richter – Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships)
• Steven J. Slawinski – Construction Law
• John Schreiber – Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Litigation – Bankruptcy

Additionally, Attorney Dean P. Laing has been named the 2019 Milwaukee Lawyer of the Year in Product Liability Litigation–Defendants.

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.”

The law firm of O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong and Laing S.C. is pleased to announce that Attorney Grant C. Killoran recently was re-elected by the State Bar of Wisconsin Board of Governors to serve another two-year term as one of the State Bar of Wisconsin’s five Delegates to the American Bar Association House of Delegates.

The House of Delegates is the policy-making body of the ABA. Control and administration of the ABA is vested in the House of Delegates. Established in 1936, the House of Delegates has over 500 members and its actions become the official policy of the ABA, the nation’s largest lawyer association.

Mr. Killoran previously has served as a Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates from 1997-1999, 2003-2009 and 2014 to present.

Mr. Killoran is a shareholder with and the Chair of O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong and Laing’s Litigation Practice Group. He has diverse trial experience, focusing on complex business and healthcare disputes.

Recognizing that family-owned business owners throughout Wisconsin have ongoing questions when it comes to selling and transferring ownership of their companies, the law firm of O’Neil Cannon Hollman DeJong and Laing has written The Art, Science and Law of Business Succession Planning.

“Our goal is to help owners understand the importance of succession planning and give them a good starting point for implementing it in their own businesses.”

Available in paperback on Amazon for $19.95 and as a Kindle ebook for $9.95, the law firm’s book explains that whether the plan is to sell the business to fund the owner’s own retirement or pass the business on to descendants or other key employees, there are questions that need to be answered sooner rather than later:

• Am I prepared to consider transferring ownership or control of my business during my lifetime?
• Have I made sure that the transition will be orderly?
• Will my key employees stay with the business rather than seek other employment?
• Is my estate sufficiently diversified so that children who are not active in the business may be treated fairly alongside those receiving an interest in the business?

The law firm’s corporate and tax attorneys incorporated the latest changes to federal tax law into the inaugural edition of the book.

Book chapters include:

Chapter 1: The Need for Succession Planning
Chapter 2: The Five Objectives of Good Succession Planning
Chapter 3: Objective 1-Maximizing the Value of the Business
Chapter 4: Objective 2-Minimize Taxes
Chapter 5: Objective 3-Provide for the Continuity and Survival of the Business
Chapter 6: Objective 4-Treating Your Children Equitably
Chapter 7: Objective 5-Preserving Family Harmony
Chapter 8: Seven Pitfalls that Work Against a Successful Transition
Chapter 9: What a Good Succession Planner Will Do
Chapter 10: Structuring Buy-Sell Agreements
Chapter 11: The Key Employee Agreement

“If a business fails due to improper planning, children’s futures are affected, and so are the futures of every employee who works for the company,” Holborn said. “By following the  steps necessary to take a company into the next generation, owners are not only potentially benefitting every member of their business team, but also their families and their descendants after them.”

On July 1, 2018 Attorney Samantha M. Amore began a three-year term as a Director of the Board of the State Bar of Wisconsin Taxation Law Section. The Taxation Law Section has more than 500 members. The Board’s mission is to provide its members with a forum to discuss issues pertaining to federal and state taxation, as well as to recommend legislation and to provide opportunities for professional education and networking.

Samantha is a member of the firm’s Business Law and Tax/Succession Practice Groups where she focuses on tax planning. Samantha offers planning strategies on entity selection and formation; prepares and negotiates organizational documents such as operating and shareholders agreements; and structures mergers, acquisitions and reorganizations. Additionally, she assists clients with various federal and state tax matters, including equity rollovers, like-kind exchanges, and obtaining and maintaining tax-exempt status. Samantha also counsels individuals on estate and business succession planning matters.

Samantha is very pleased to be elected and look forward to being involved with the Board in their new roles.

Attorney Gregory S. Mager recently moderated the Family Court Commissioners’ Panel at the 36^th Annual Midwinter Seminar for the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) was founded to provide leadership that promotes the highest degree of professionalism and excellence in the practice of family law, including divorce and child custody decisions.

The AAML focuses on generating assistance, support, and growth for education, mediation, and arbitration in matrimonial law. The organization makes resources available to its members, including news, publications and other information on important sociological and psychological research concerning marriage breakdown, with particular attention on the consequences for the children of separated and divorced parents.

Greg has been a fellow in the AAML since 2012. He is recognized by judges and peers as one of Wisconsin’s premier family law attorneys. He uses his extensive skill, training, and experience to help his clients achieve successful resolutions of their divorce, paternity, custody, placement, and support matters. Greg is uniquely positioned to successfully represent clients in their family law matters, including those involving complex business, financial, and child related issues.

For additional information, please contact Greg at Gregory.Mager@wilaw.com or 414-276-5000.

The George Washington statue has returned to Wisconsin Avenue near the campus of Marquette University. The 133 year-old monument had been removed for restoration, which involved removing layers of black corrosion and the repair of splitting bronze. Attorney Claude Krawczyk currently serves as the president of The Westown Association, which raised funds for the restoration effort. In total, the restoration project cost more than $100,000 to complete. Attorney Krawczyk had a special interest in the project, explaining “I can remember seeing [the statue] when I was a kid, it’s been there all my life. I think it’s an important memory for Milwaukee … an important symbol.” Read full story here.

O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong and Laing is pleased to announce that Attorney Jason Scoby and Attorney Bob Gagan were recently elected as shareholders of the firm.

Mr. Scoby has been with the firm since 2009 and is a member of the firm’s Business Practice Group and Banking and Creditors’ Rights Practice Group. He advises and represents individuals, businesses, and banks on a variety of corporate, banking, and business-related issues, including mergers and acquisitions, commercial loan transactions, corporate issues, contract negotiation and preparation, and business entity selection and formation.

Learn more about Mr. Scoby by visiting his full profile.

Mr. Gagan has been with the firm since 2016. Bob is a respected Wisconsin business law attorney. He focuses his practice on corporate law and commercial litigation as well as municipal law. Mr. Gagan is a Past President of the State Bar of Wisconsin. He previously served as the Brown County representative on the State Bar Board of Governors and also served on the Board of Governors Executive Committee. Mr. Gagan is the co–founder of the Brown County Free Legal Clinic and continues to volunteer his time at this Free Legal Clinic.

Learn more about Mr. Gagan by visiting his full profile.

We are pleased to add both Jason and Bob as shareholders.