BROOKFIELD, MILWAUKEE, WI — Davis|Kuelthau, s.c. is pleased to announce the expansion of its Commercial Litigation Team with the addition of Associate Attorney Jessica Puetz and its Trust, Estates, and Succession Planning Team with the addition of Associate Attorney Claire McDonough.
Jessica first worked at Davis|Kuelthau as part of the firm’s 2020 Summer Associate internship class. After earning her law degree, Jessica spent time as a Law Clerk for a Milwaukee based law firm and then as a Litigation Associate for a Pewaukee based law firm. As a Litigation Associate on our team, she provides support on a variety of commercial litigation matters including real estate disputes, trust and estates disputes, contract disputes, and healthcare litigation.
Our Commercial Litigation Team has successfully handled hundreds of cases in front of juries, judges, arbitrators, mediators, and administrative tribunals at all levels of the court system from administrative level to the circuit court through appeals and supreme courts in numerous jurisdictions in local, state, federal, and international venues. We service a wide range of clients including closely-held businesses, multi-national corporations, financial institutions, entrepreneurs, other professionals, and non-profit organizations.
Jessica graduated cum laude from Marquette University Law School where she served an Associate Editor for the Marquette Law Review, was selected as a Jenkins Honors Moot Court competitor, and was a member of the Association for Women Lawyers. Jessica kept busy spending time with The Marcus Corporation as a Law Clerk and also served as a Legal Volunteer in Milwaukee through the Eviction Defense Project, U-Visa Project, and Legal Action of Wisconsin. Prior to law school, she earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and Economics from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. During undergrad she served as a volunteer income tax preparer for low-income individuals through the University’s VITA program and was an active member of the College of Business Ethics Board.
We first met Claire McDonough in her third year at Marquette University Law School, when she joined the firm as a Law Clerk in our Brookfield office as part of our Trusts, Estates and Succession Planning Team.
Claire focuses on all matters relating to estate planning, succession planning, and trust administration. Specifically, her practice includes trusts, wills, marital property agreements, and powers of attorney. In addition, Claire assists on probate matters and works with the tax team on reviewing income tax returns and filing estate tax returns.
While in law school, Claire was the President of the Estate Planning Society and the intern for the Milwaukee Estate Planning Forum. She also worked as the Research Assistant for Professor Vada Lindsey regarding gift and estate tax research.
Claire earned her J.D. from Marquette University Law School and her Bachelor of Arts in journalism and political science from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
Our Trusts, Estates and Succession Planning Team helps clients evaluate and choose methods to preserve and protect assets during lifetime and plan for the use of assets to benefit family members, friends and charitable entities at death. We assist clients in minimizing taxes on the transfer of assets to future generations. We create the safeguards that best achieve our clients’ estate planning objectives and develop estate plans that will reduce the impact of estate and gift taxes. In addition, many of our attorneys specialize in other areas including business succession planning, marital property agreements, charitable gift planning, private foundations and other non-profit organizations, retirement plan distribution planning, planning for disabled beneficiaries, and elder care planning.
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Davis|Kuelthau, s.c. offers an array of innovative legal solutions to business owners and corporations of all sizes, including emerging, middle-market and Fortune 500 companies, high net worth individuals and families, private and institutional investors, and lenders. The firm’s attorneys, who practice from five offices across Wisconsin, have national experience combined with strong community ties.