Skip to Main Content
Overview

A corporate and transactional attorney who thinks holistically about clients’ businesses, Jeffrey often serves clients for decades.

Jeffrey began his legal career at a firm that focused on both real estate and traditional corporate transactions, and he quickly discovered that he thrived on closing deals. Almost a quarter century later, he still finds it exciting and rewarding to get a client’s deal across the finish line, and he loves seeing the business growth that results—especially when it’s tangible real property that can be visited in real life.

Primarily a business attorney with a focus on corporate transactions, Jeffrey regularly oversees mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and private securities offerings. He also frequently handles ancillary real estate deals, including commercial leasing, land acquisition, loan documentation, purchase and sale of residential and commercial property, and resolution of title matters. While Jeffrey supports clients in a variety of industries, he has built a strong niche practice in the hospitality realm, often representing restaurants, bars, and breweries. After cannabis was partially legalized in Minnesota in 2023, he began representing businesses in the burgeoning industrial hemp and cannabis industries as well and has become a leading attorney in the Minnesota cannabis world.

Jeffrey works with clients who have branches, offices, and restaurants across the country, and he joined Husch Blackwell in 2024 to ensure nationwide coverage for the organizations he represents. He handles deals with values in the low millions up to hundreds of millions—but he treats every deal like a major deal, because he knows no transaction is small or insignificant to the client. Jeffrey is known for going beyond an individual transaction and thinking holistically about the client’s business and its future: he structures deals and gives advice with an eye to the organization’s long-term goals, often all the way to an eventual exit strategy. His ability to serve as a business partner draws clients back again and again, and Jeffrey has served many of the same clients for nearly 20 years.

Industry

Services

Recognition

  • Minnesota Monthly Top Lawyers, 2023-24

Education

  • J.D., Mitchell Hamline School of Law
    • cum laude
  • B.S., University of St. Thomas
    • cum laude

Admissions

  • Minnesota
  • Wisconsin
  • Iowa
  • South Dakota
  • North Dakota
  • U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Iowa
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Iowa
  • U.S. District Court, District of South Dakota

Professional Memberships and Certifications

  • MSBA Board Certified Real Property Specialist
  • Minnesota Industrial Hemp Association, Board of Directors
  • State Bar of Wisconsin, Nonresident Lawyers Division, President-Elect/Board of Directors
  • Bravera Bank - Albertville (Albertville, Minnesota), Community Advisory Board
Experience
  • Represented Minnesota Industrial Hemp Association in co-authoring an amicus curiae brief to the Minnesota Supreme Court together with the Minnesota Cannabis Association in the matter of State v. Loveless.
  • Represented personal training/fitness business in $6.6 million equity investment transaction.
  • Represented emerging SaaS company on $2 million equity infusion.
Outside the Office

Jeffrey and his wife have three canine children, a Lab/Australian Shepherd mix, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, and a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. The latter (and younger) two are active dock divers who regularly travel for regional and national competitions.

Jeffrey is a frequent legal commentator on a variety of issues and has been interviewed by the Minnesota StarTribune, MinnPost, Bloomberg, and other media outlets, and is a regular contributor to two local radio shows/podcasts.

Community Leadership

Jeffrey values pro bono work and has a long history of assisting nonprofits with obtaining 501c3 status. In recent years, he has taught this work to young associates. He is a board member of the Minnesota Industrial Hemp Association, which he helped found pro bono.

Jeffrey also enjoys volunteering with clients’ organizations. He serves on the community advisory board for a banking client and also works with Enchanted Hollow Foundation, a horse rescue organization overseen by a client.