Madison, Wisconsin
Education:
- J.D., University of Michigan
- B.B.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison
Admissions:
- Wisconsin
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
- U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin
- U.S. Tax Court
Throughout his career, Doug has been a key resource to clients facing complex legal and/or factual issues. His interest and extensive experience in complex problem-solving enables Doug to recognize the important issues, cut through the clutter and find innovative and workable solutions. He applies his problem solving skills principally in the legal areas of tax, business, corporate, real estate, regulatory and non-profit law.
With a background in business and accounting, his practice has always included tax work, both directly and as a vital component of larger business transactions. His tax advice and litigation services include not only income and sales taxes, but also more specialized tax regimes, including premier resort area tax, room tax, ad valorem taxation of airlines, retaliatory/reciprocal taxation of insurance companies, gross receipt taxes on gaming, and real estate transfer fees.
Today, his principal practice is in advising clients in all areas of business and corporate law including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, commercial lending, shareholder/member/partner disputes, and entity formation, structuring, governance and compliance. Doug’s business work and advice often involves his knowledge and extensive experience with real estate, antitrust, fair dealership, securities, insurance and Indian law.
As necessary, in order to find a solution to his clients’ problems, his work may involve efforts to create legislation or obtain regulatory relief through the use of government relations attorneys. For example, he was heavily involved in creating and modifying legislation related to the creation of premier resort areas and their local sales tax, the room tax, increasing the issuance of liquor licenses in certain resort areas and adopting the September 1st school start date.
Doug works with a variety of clients ranging from start-ups and single member/shareholder entities to publicly traded corporations. He also frequently advises non-profit organizations, including trade associations or groups, as well as membership organizations.
Affiliations
- State Bar of Wisconsin – Taxation, Business Law and Real Property – Probate and Trust Law Sections
Notable Representations
- The financing and refinancing of a professional baseball park facility in Wisconsin, acting as underwriters counsel
- The creation of the Commercial Paper program for State of Wisconsin borrowing (general obligation and transportation revenue programs), acting as underwriter’s counsel
- Creating residential, commercial and mixed use condominiums, including the first parking garage condominium in Wisconsin
- Providing the full business staffing for the first MRI hospital joint venture in Wisconsin (creation of entity and corporate governance provisions, qualification of corporation as tax-exempt entity, purchase of parcel, division of parcel, sale of portions of parcel, and negotiation of tax-exempt bond financing, lease for the magnetic resonance imaging equipment and construction contract for specialized building)
- Negotiating and drafting a tribal gaming compact with the State of Wisconsin
- Selling a large gaming facility to a sovereign entity
- Insurance issues, including filings regarding change of control, purchasing an insurance company shell, implementing insured auto warranty programs, and dealing with issues regarding insurers in rehabilitation/liquidation