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.

O’Neil Cannon has been ranked in the 2018 U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” list in 13 practice areas:

• Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
• Commercial Litigation
• Construction Law
• Corporate Law
• Family Law
• Litigation – Bankruptcy
• Mergers and Acquisitions 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 2018 “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.

Each year, Super Lawyers surveys the State’s attorneys and judges, seeking the State’s top attorneys. The lists for 2017 were recently published and, once again, a large number of our attorneys are included thereon.

Dean Laing was named one of the Top 10 attorneys in Wisconsin for the third time. He was also named one of the Top 50 attorneys in Wisconsin for the twelfth straight year. In doing so, he is one of only six attorneys out of over 15,000 attorneys in Wisconsin—and the only commercial litigator in Wisconsin—to make the list all twelve years. Dean was also named one of the Top 25 attorneys in Milwaukee.

Seth Dizard and Patrick McBride were also named among the Top 50 attorneys in Wisconsin. This is the fifth time that Seth has made the list. Seth was also named one of the Top 25 attorneys in Milwaukee.

Doug Dehler, Jim DeJong, Pete Faust, Bob Gagan, John Gehringer, Joe Gumina, Greg Lyons, Greg Mager, Joe Newbold, Chad Richter, John Schreiber, Jason Scoby, and Steve Slawinski were also named Super Lawyers, a recognition given to the top 5% of attorneys in Wisconsin. Jim DeJong, Pete Faust, John Gehringer, and Greg Lyons have made the list for the past 10 or more years.

Erica Reib was also named Rising Stars, which is limited to 2.5% of the young attorneys in Wisconsin.

We are extremely proud of these recognitions, but even more proud of the quality of service we provide to our clients.

Effective January 1, 2018, Attorney Steve Slawinski was elected to the Board of Directors for the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) of Wisconsin. Throughout the country, the ABC is an effective force in business development, education, labor relations, and legislation. The ABC actively promotes merit, or performance-based construction.

For 30 years, Steve has represented his clients in complex construction, business, and real estate litigation. His practice emphasizes the areas of construction litigation and construction law—representing general contractors, subcontractors, owners, design professionals, lenders, and title insurers in construction disputes, both in court and in arbitration.

Steve is pleased to be elected for a three-year term and looks forward to adding his expertise to the board.

The spirit of the holiday season is upon us once again and the attorneys and staff at O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong and Laing wanted to do something special for our community. For our annual holiday donation OCHDL collected 521 pounds of food for the Hunger Task Force.

The Hunger Task Force provides a safety net of emergency food to a network of local food pantries and meal programs. They are the only food bank in Milwaukee that does not charge for food, delivery, or network membership. We are honored to support them and their mission to end hunger.

From all of us at O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong and Laing:

“Best wishes for a wonderful holiday and a very Happy New Year!”