Dedicated leadership for clients and colleagues alike
Fred Lautz was a corporate services attorney who guided his clients on myriad business law issues. His focus included mergers and acquisitions (M&A), corporate finance and securities, corporate governance matters, buy/sell agreements, executive and equity compensation programs, general operational matters and securities offerings, including public and private offerings of equity and debt securities. He also advised mutual funds and investment advisors on organization and initial registration, board composition and corporate governance matters, regulatory compliance, share distribution structures and relationships, and acquisitions and reorganizations. Fred represented clients of all types and sizes, including:
- Financial institutions
- Mutual funds
- Manufacturers
- Retail and distribution companies
- Professional services companies
As a former managing partner and past member of the firm’s governing executive committee, Fred was a central driver of the firm’s client-first culture and helped grow it as a model of 21st century legal services. He was zealous about continuous improvement and considered it essential that Quarles attorneys and business professionals help one another do what was necessary to ensure the firm’s clients could sleep better at night. Fred supervised the firm’s partnership, guided the firm’s strategic and operational growth, and worked hand-in-hand with the firm chair to chart the long-term course for Quarles. Never one to fear change when it was necessary, Fred maintained a singular focus on business objectives, searched out systems that worked and didn’t work, and kept a close eye on developing trends and themes. Ultimately, he viewed himself as a “legally licensed businessman.”
Professional Recognitions
- Recognized as Best Lawyers® 2018 Milwaukee Securities / Capital Markets Law "Lawyer of the Year"
- Recognized as Best Lawyers® 2012 Milwaukee Mergers & Acquisitions Law "Lawyer of the Year"
- Listed in Best Lawyers® (2006–2019: Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law; Securities/Capital Markets Law)
- Selected for inclusion in the 2005–2019 Wisconsin Super Lawyers® lists (Mergers & Acquisitions)
- Martindale-Hubbell AV® Peer Review Rated
Professional & Civic Activities
- State Bar of Wisconsin (Member: Securities Law Committee; Subcommittee on 1933 and 1934 Act Disclosures; Subcommittee on Investment Companies)
- American Bar Association (Member, Business Law Section)
News & Insights
Education
- University of Wisconsin Law School (J.D., 1985)
- Order of the Coif
- Wisconsin Law Review (Senior Note and Comment Editor)
- University of Wisconsin–La Crosse (M.E.P.D., 1980)
- Master of Education, Emphasis in Mathematics
- University of Wisconsin–La Crosse (B.S., 1975)
- Majors: Math and Physics
Bar Admissions
- Wisconsin
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin, 1985