On October 8, 2014, O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong and Laing S.C. hosted a Continuing Legal Education seminar focusing on legal issues of interest to Wisconsin small firm and solo practice attorneys. Approximately 70 attorneys attended the event. The firm’s Managing Shareholder, Jim DeJong, presided over the event.

Chad Baruch of Dallas, Texas was the keynote speaker for the seminar. Attorney Baruch spoke on effective legal writing. He also spoke on constitutional law issues and moderated a panel discussion on corporate drafting issues. Bob Gagan, President of the State Bar of Wisconsin, also participated in the seminar. Attorney Gagan discussed the resources available from the State Bar of Wisconsin to assist small firm and solo practice attorneys.

A number of O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong and Laing S.C. attorneys spoke at the event, including:

• Randy Nash and Greg Mager discussed State Bar of Wisconsin projects with State Bar President, Bob Gagan.
• Dean Laing presented on several litigation issues, including the impact of social media research in litigation and emerging deposition and expert witness practice issues.
• Pete Faust, Doug Dehler, Joe Maier, and Joe Newbold participated in a panel discussion with Chad Baruch on corporate document drafting issues.
• Joseph Gumina presented on recent developments in labor and employment law.
• Grant Killoran presented on legal and practical issues related to the handling of electronically stored information.
• Seth Dizard, Melissa Blair, and Tim Van de Kamp participated in a panel discussion on recent developments in creditors’ rights, bankruptcy and receivership law.

If you would like any additional information regarding the seminar, including copies of the seminar materials, please contact Grant Killoran via e-mail at grant.killoran@wilaw.com or by telephone at 414.276.5000.

Attorney Gregory S. Mager presented at the Collaborative Family Law Council of Wisconsin’s Second Saturday on October 11, 2014. The Council’s Second Saturday program is designed to inform the general public regarding collaborative divorce.

Mr. Mager is a member of the Collaborative Family Law Council of Wisconsin, and a shareholder with O’Neil Cannon

Attorney Gregory S. Mager presented “Civil Procedure, Evidence, and Pretrial Discovery” and “Temporary Hearings—A Panel Discussion” in August, 2014 at the State Bar of Wisconsin’s 33^rd Annual Family Law Workshop in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.

Mr. Mager is the Director of the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Wisconsin, and a shareholder with O’Neil Cannon

O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong and Laing S.C. is pleased to announce that 14 lawyers have been named to the 2015 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 65 countries.  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, Hollman, DeJong and Laing S.C. would like to congratulate the following attorneys named to the 2015 Best Lawyers in America® list:

• James G. DeJong – Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, and Securities/Capital Markets Law
• Seth E. Dizard – Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, and Litigation-Bankruptcy
• Peter J. Faust – Corporate Law, and Mergers and Acquisitions Law
• John G. Gehringer – Commercial Litigation, Construction Law, Corporate Law, and Real Estate Law
• Dennis W. Hollman – Corporate Law, and Trusts and Estates
• Grant C. Killoran – Litigation-Health Care
• Dean P. Laing – Commercial Litigation, Personal Injury Litigation-Plaintiffs, and Product Liability Litigation-Defendants
• Gregory W. Lyons – Commercial Litigation and Litigation-Insurance
• Patrick G. McBride – Commercial Litigation
• Thomas A. Merkle – Family Law
• 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 52,000 leading attorneys cast more than 5.5 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 Grant C. Killoran recently was elected by the State Bar of Wisconsin to serve a two-year term as one of its 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 served as a Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates from 1997-1999 and 2003-2009.

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 health care disputes.

M Magazine (July 2014) just listed its “Leading Lawyers” in the Milwaukee area, and the list includes the following nine attorneys from O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong and Laing S.C.:

•  Jim DeJong (Business)
•  Pete Faust (Corporate/Incorporation)
•  Grant Killoran (Health Care)
•  Dean Laing (Litigation)
•  Greg Mager (Family)
•  Patrick McBride (Insurance)
•  Randy Nash (Litigation)
•  Peter Walsh (Estate Planning)

In selecting the “Leading Lawyers” in the Milwaukee area, M Magazine utilized the services of Avvo, a Seattle-based company that rates all attorneys on a 10-point scale, factoring in peer endorsements, experience, education, training, speaking, publishing, and awards.

The Milwaukee Justice Center, organized by Milwaukee County, the Milwaukee Bar Association and the Marquette University School of Law, provides civil legal assistance to people who cannot afford an attorney. In 2012, the volunteers of the Center provided nearly 9,000 hours of pro bonoservice to 10,659 unrepresented litigants.

Fifteen attorneys from the law firm of O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong and Laing contributed the success of the Milwaukee Justice Center in 2012 to include:

• Doug Dehler
• Megan Eisch
• Miles Goodwin
• Grant Killoran
• Justinian Koenings
• Claude Krawczyk
• Gregory Lyons
• Sarah Matt
•  Joseph Newbold
• Laura Now
• Jason Scoby
• Steven Slawinski
• Steven Strye
•  Timothy Van de Kamp
•  Peter Walsh

Grant Killoran, the Chair of O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong and Laing S.C.’s Litigation Practice Group, has been selected by the American Bar Association Section of Litigation as an Outstanding Subcommittee Chair for the 2013-2014 ABA year.

Grant serves as the Co-Editor of the ABA Section of Litigation’s Health Law Litigation Newsletter and is being honored for his work on that publication.

Grant has served as a Co-Editor of the ABA Health Law Litigation Newsletter for a number of years. He previously served as the Co-Chair of the ABA Section of Litigation’s Health Law Litigation Committee.

Grant’s practice focuses on complex business disputes, including those involving the health care industry.

James G. DeJong, a 1973 Carroll graduate and president of the Milwaukee law firm O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong and Laing, will be inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society during a ceremony at Carroll University in April. Founded in 1897, this highly selective honors society was created to recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others.

A Mequon, Wis., resident, DeJong joined Carroll’s Board of Trustees in May 2008. He has served on the Board’s Executive and Institutional Advancement committees and was elected Board Chair in 2013. He is serving a three-year term.

Downtown Milwaukee office building put in receivership

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – February 24, 2014

A court-appointed receiver has been named to oversee the operations of a financially troubled downtown Milwaukee office building.

The eight-story building, at 211-219 W. Wisconsin Ave., adjacent to the Shops of Grand Avenue, is owned by 30 separate investment groups, all based outside Wisconsin, according to court records.

Those groups are insolvent. Their debtor is a Bank of America commercial mortgage fund, with U.S. Bank serving as its trustee.

Milwaukee Attorney Seth Dizard was appointed as receiver for the 105,000-square-foot building, which is leased mainly to the Internal Revenue Service.

The IRS moved its regional office there in 2006, the same year the property was sold by Wispark LLC to Chicago-based TSG Real Estate LLC for $20 million. Wispark bought the building in 2004 for $3 million, and remodeled it to accommodate the IRS.

Later in 2006, the building was sold to its current owners. It is now valued at $13 million, according to city assessment records.