Practice Areas
Industries
Education
Indiana University Maurer School of Law
Bloomington, Indiana
J.D., magna cum laude, 2012
Indiana Law Journal, Managing Editor
Hope College
Holland, Michigan
B.A., Economics, with honors, 2008
Bar Admissions
Michigan
Court Admissions
All Michigan state courts
Corporate, Mergers and Acquisitions Attorney
Jake is a member of Varnum’s Corporate Services and M&A Team. Jake’s focus is in business and transactional work with a strong emphasis on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), private equity, family office, venture capital and other commercial transactions. Jake also has experience with day-to-day business issues from a legal perspective and has experience in corporate structuring, succession planning, securities regulation and a wide variety of other commercial transactions. He has experience working with businesses ranging from early stage startups to mature, privately-held businesses of all sizes.
In addition to general corporate services, Jake is also co-chair of the Food Law Team. His food law experience includes compliance with FDA labeling requirements and the Food Safety Modernization Act. Jake also has representative experience with agricultural cooperatives and the Capper Volstead Act.
For the past three years, Jake has been named by Best Lawyers® as one of the “Ones to Watch,” a designation given to attorneys with less than 10 years of practice in recognition of their outstanding professional excellence in private practice.
M&A Experience
A sample of representative M&A transactions are as follows:
Represented regional c-store distributor in negotiation and consummation of sale to privately-owned competitor.
Represented fruit juice manufacturer in sale to publicly-traded company.
Represented various startups and growing business in connection with capital raises and exit transactions.
Represented outdoor industry company in numerous acquisitions and divestitures in North America.
Roll-up acquisitions for insurance brokerage, risk management benefits design firm (more than 300 transactions to date since July 2013).
Represented family office in connection with acquisition of financially-distressed produce broker and apple packer.
Represented a leading carbon steel service center in its sale to a private equity fund.
Represented private equity firm Blackford Capital in several acquisitions.
Honors and Recognitions
Best Lawyers in America®, Ones to Watch, Corporate Law, since 2021; Mergers and Acquisitions Law, 2024
Grand Rapids Magazine’s Top Lawyers, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, since 2022
Michigan Lawyers Weekly, Go To Lawyer for Business Law, 2022
Michigan Lawyers Weekly, Up & Coming Lawyer, 2016
Professional Affiliations
Association for Corporate Growth
Grand Rapids Bar Association
Mid America Cooperative Council, Inc.
State Bar of Michigan