With primary focuses on the needs of privately held businesses and tax-exempt organizations, Chris takes pride in solving complex problems and developing strategic solutions that align clients for success. Drawing on his background as a financial analyst at GE, he serves as a trusted adviser and a go-to resource for challenging transactional issues encompassing a variety of business and tax matters.
He has experience in general corporate and transactional matters for a range of clients, including start-ups, family businesses, growth-stage companies, and mature small-and-medium-sized businesses. In this role, he guides clients through business structuring, tax planning, and transactional matters, including investment and growth planning through capital and private equity transactions, joint ventures, mergers, acquisitions, reorganizations, and sales. Chris also serves as general outside counsel to business clients, handling contract drafting and negotiations, equity and non-equity incentive plan development, and governance matters, enabling his clients to focus on their businesses. Additionally, he provides personal services to business owners through individual tax planning, estate and gift tax planning, and business succession and asset protection planning.
Chris’ knowledge in the area of tax-exempt organizations has produced positive results for many organizations and the community. Commonly representing charities, foundations, social welfare organizations, and business leagues, he helps these organizations obtain and maintain federal tax-exemption status while navigating a complex regulatory landscape. In particular, he aids newer entrants into the tax-exempt ecosystem, including social enterprises and action organizations, and counsels organizations in need of a creative, forward-thinking approach to traversing the unique issues that arise during the life cycle. As is the case with his for-profit practice, Chris’ involvement with tax-exempt organizations also involves transactional work, including mergers, acquisitions, and reorganizations, in addition to tax-exempt-specific matters like UBIT minimization, structuring for exemption protection, and nonprofit joint ventures. This work requires a significant amount of proficiency and commonly involves the inter-play between general corporate and tax practices. Chris has also been published multiple times in national law journals on topics including public support, conversion to private foundation status, charitable solicitation, and political campaign activity.
He is also an adjunct professor at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, where he teaches courses on business transactions. Chris also regularly lectures for Ohio State’s Entrepreneurial Business Law Clinic and the Nonprofit Board Fellows Program.
Prior to attending law school, Chris was a financial analyst for General Electric in Cleveland. Following law school, he initially worked in the firm’s Cincinnati office before returning to Columbus to be closer to family.
