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Integrated estate & business planning is often the missing link for high-achieving individuals who have mastered their craft but haven’t yet bulletproofed their legacy. As a licensed professional or a successful business owner, you dedicate your life to building, protecting, and growing valuable assets—whether that’s a thriving medical practice, a boutique consultancy, or a multi-unit enterprise. You excel at foresight within your field, but have you applied that same rigorous strategy to the interconnected futures of your personal wealth

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Continue Reading Why Integrated Estate & Business Planning Works

One of the most difficult parts of owning a business is finding great employees. Successful business owners know they cannot be everywhere at once and therefore must rely on their key employees. Sometimes retaining these key employees becomes vital not only for day-to-day operations, but the future success of the business.

This drives many Wisconsin business owners to ask: Should I let my key employees buy into my business? This is a loaded question. Not only do business owners…
Continue Reading Should I Offer Ownership to My Key Employees?

As businesses grow, owners may increasingly rely on key employees and Human Resources (HR) professionals to manage functions the owner does not directly oversee. Key employees and HR professionals are typically those employees who have access to important confidential business information. These individuals often gain access to confidential operational details, employee information, and other sensitive data. A common question that arises: When should employers use non-disclosure agreements (NDAs)?

While NDAs are not required in every situation, they are one…
Continue Reading Nondisclosure Agreements (NDAs): A Practical Guide on How and When NDAs Should be Utilized

As we start the second full week of January, we bring employers a second employment law resolution: a comprehensive wage and hour audit. So, even if you’re sticking to your commitment to less screen time in 2026, this is worth a read.

In addition to lawsuits brough by individuals, either on behalf of themselves or on behalf of a class of similarly situated employees, the Department of Labor remains focused on enforcement of the FLSA. In fiscal year 2025,…
Continue Reading Employer New Year’s Resolution #2: Comprehensive Wage & Hour Audit

Securing a federal trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is one of the most exciting and valuable steps a new business can take to protect its brand identity. The USPTO trademark application process is not always intuitive, especially when it comes to evaluating whether another business is already using a similar mark in commerce. It is important for prospective applicants to understand how the trademark application process works in order to prevent costly surprises down…
Continue Reading Navigating the USPTO Trademark Application Process: Is It Worth the Risk?

BASE jumping references aside, if you produce or sell intoxicating THC beverages, now is the time to plan your off ramp.

Congress enacted changes that narrow what qualifies as federally lawful hemp starting November 12, 2026, including a 0.4 mg per container cap for final hemp-derived cannabinoid products.

Let’s tear the band-aid off now: 0.4 mg is not a meaningful replacement for the 20 mg to 50 mg cans the market sells today. So for most producers, the real…
Continue Reading The THC Beverage Cliff is Coming: You Are Jumping – Plan Now to Avoid a Cliff Strike

  • Did your company file its Annual Report?
  • Did you corporation select its board or directors and do its annual resolutions?
  • Did you come up with goals and a budget for next year?
  • Did you celebrate your wins?

It’s that last one that comes hardest to many. Some people are born with confetti in their hands. Others celebrate by moving to the next thing on their To Do list. But this is the season for celebration, so let’s take a…
Continue Reading Year End Yays!

Choosing between an LLC and an S-Corporation isn’t just a tax decision — it’s a family protection decision. The business structure you choose affects liability, control, taxes, succession planning, and even whether your business ends up tangled in probate.
If you’re a local small or mid-size business owner, understanding these differences can help you safeguard what you’ve built and protect the people you love.

LLC vs. S-Corp: Quick Comparison Chart

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LLC
S-Corporation

Liability Protection
Strong limited liability for

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Continue Reading LLC vs. S-Corp for Small Business Owners: Which Protects Your Family Better?

Corporate executives in Wisconsin often receive a large portion of their compensation through restricted stock units (RSUs), stock grants, or employer equity awards. As your shares vest, they can quickly become a significant part of your net worth—and with that comes complex questions about taxes, transfer planning, and probate exposure.
One of the most effective strategies to gain more control over how your vested shares are handled is transferring employer stock into a trust. For Wisconsin executives, a trust

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Continue Reading Should Executives in Wisconsin Put Employer Stock Into a Trust?

As a business owner, it’s essential to protect your business from liability. Whether you own a gym, resort, recreational facility, daycare, dance studio, rent boats, kayaks, bikes, other outdoor activity equipment, or offer event space for weddings and other parties, there are many circumstances when you may want to use a liability waiver. Many insurance carriers require customer experience type businesses to utilize waivers. Some public libraries even require them for their Makerspace activities.

But liability waivers present a…
Continue Reading Does My Wisconsin Business Need a Liability Waiver?

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Limited liability companies, or LLCs, are comprised of owners identified as “Members” under the LLC’s organizational document, which in Wisconsin is called an Operating Agreement.  A Member’s ownership interest is typically denominated in units and expressed as a percentage of overall units called “Membership Interests.”  The number of units issued is typically tied to the Member’s capital contributions to the LLC.  When a Member is considering a sale or transfer of the Member’s Membership Interests in the LLC, proper…
Continue Reading Five Considerations When Selling Your Limited Liability Company Membership Interests  

Ferrara Candy Company, the maker of Nerds, recently filed a lawsuit against the maker of Dweebs candy. What looks like a quirky fight between two playful names is actually a cautionary tale for startups and small businesses building their brands.

Ferrara has spent decades growing Nerds into a cultural touchstone. In 2024 alone, sales topped $870 million in the United States. To protect that investment, Ferrara holds trademarks on the Nerds name, the irregular pebble shape of the candy,…
Continue Reading Trademark Trouble in Candyland: Lessons for Growing Brands from Nerds vs. Dweebs

Health care joint ventures can create an important vehicle for combining resources and expertise, in addition to improving health care product and service access. However, these arrangements often come with complex legal, regulatory and operational challenges that may affect timelines and the profitability of these arrangements. Significant delays or modifications to the anticipated commencement of joint venture operations and the scope of operations may cost the parties in terms of both resources and goodwill. Below are five key factors…
Continue Reading Five Key Factors That Impact Health Care Joint Venture Timelines

The rush to integrate AI is understandable. New tools promise faster drafting, richer research, and smoother operations. Adoption alone, however, is not enough. When powerful systems land in people’s hands without a shared understanding of how to use them well, the risks expand as quickly as the possibilities. A parallel track in AI literacy changes that. It develops users who are curious, appropriately skeptical, and legally careful. It also tends to produce better work.

By AI literacy, I mean…
Continue Reading Adopt the Model, Train the Human: AI Literacy as the Parallel Track to Integration

While the required use of disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs) in federal and state contracting appears to be on thin ice in the current political environment, contractors should still be cautious about compliance with applicable legal requirements. As the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Kousisis v. U.S., 145 S.Ct. 1382 (2025) shows, the government retains powerful tools to prosecute procurement fraud cases related to the use of DBEs, even if the government accepts the work and the defendant did…
Continue Reading U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Wire Fraud Conviction for DBE Fraud, Notwithstanding Lack of Economic Harm

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The complex world of health care mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”) involves intricate processes that require effective integration of systems and services to maximize value. A Transition Services Agreement (“TSA”) is a contractual agreement that can play a crucial role in ensuring a smooth transition post-acquisition. The purpose of a TSA is to ensure continuity and stability during the integration phase of a transaction, allowing the buyer time to integrate the acquired assets smoothly.

A TSA outlines the services that,

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Continue Reading Navigating Mergers and Acquisitions: The Science and Art of Transition Service Agreements