While many people have a passion for travel, few are as devoted to immersing themselves in the experience as Allie.

Long before her legal career began, Allie not only spent time living on three different continents but was also studying Spanish, French, Italian and Mandarin to heighten her ability to connect with everyone she meets on their own terms.

Her commitment to learning and understanding, combined with her enthusiasm and empathy, makes Allie a compassionate and authentic advocate who eagerly seeks the best outcome for each individual, in every situation.

Her hands-on experience is nearly diverse as her language skills. From identifying microfinance opportunities in Argentina, to working with non-profit donors to help aid migrant workers and international victims of human rights violations, to a stint on Wall Street, to assisting major corporations in Ohio and beyond, Allie has worked with businesses and organizations of all backgrounds and sizes.

Prior to joining Katz, Allie was an integral part of the legal team that took the first-ever complex chapter 11 bankruptcy case in the Southern District of Ohio from petition to confirmation, in the end restructuring more than 100 related entities into a viable go-forward conglomerate, thereby preserving jobs and protecting benefits for many individuals throughout the Appalachian region.

Throughout her legal career, Allie has been involved in many aspects of the law—including negotiations with unions related to collective bargaining agreements, review and negotiation of vendor and client contracts, transfers and sales of real property, debtors’ and creditors’ rights issues, negotiating lending transactions with institutional lenders, obtaining trademark registrations and renewals, and aiding companies through the merger and acquisition process.

Living, studying and working in New York City, Italy and Argentina have given the native Northern Kentuckian an appreciation for how much she enjoys her hometown and the Tristate area. Allie feels privileged to serve the legal needs of businesses that do so much to contribute to the Tristate’s exceptional quality of life.

Ask Mark Jahnke how he's doing, and he will tell you he's living the dream. And while every attorney knows on some days that might ring sarcastic, Mark regularly means it.

For him, the dream is the opportunity to work with clients to help them achieve their dreams. Because clients recognize that his level of care and concern is something unique, Mark is often asked to serve on client boards, advisory groups or in other capacities that allow him to work hand-in-hand with management to achieve business goals or navigate challenges and complexities.

While day-to-day client counseling frequently occupies a portion of Mark's workday, his reputation has been built on and staked to the special skill he brings to advising clients on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and other major corporate transactions. Several times Mark has represented one party in a deal only to be hired later by the other party in connection with a separate transaction.

A long-time client describes Mark as “the kind of lawyer that every CEO dreams of hiring,” and the lawyer he would want on his side of the table in any negotiation. As that client recognized, Mark does not pretend to be an expert in every area, but involves the right people as needed to help clients avoid unnecessary legal adventures. This echoes Mark’s recognition in Chambers USA as an “astute business lawyer and negotiator who is very easy to deal with,” and who will "fight for the things that are important with great practical judgment and a sense of humor.”

From 2000-September 2020, Mark was the President and CEO of Katz Teller. Mark’s ability to bring out the best in those around him, along with his leadership and judgment, help to keep us focused on achieving the level of service our clients expect and deserve.

Chris’s practice is focused on a wide range of transactional tax, executive compensation, tax controversy, and retirement plan design and compliance matters.

A substantial part of Chris’s practice involves advising privately held corporate and pass-through entities and their owners with respect to complicated tax and employee benefits matters arising throughout the business lifecycle, including preparation for and execution of significant corporate transactions. Chris is active in the Firm’s transactional practices and is frequently involved in creating and analyzing transactional structures that maximize tax efficiency for parties to such transactions.

Complementary to his transactional tax practice, Chris regularly works with employers and executive groups on their unique executive compensation arrangements including equity arrangements and “profits interest” awards, non-qualified deferred compensation plans, change in control arrangements, and related matters under Sections 280G and 409A. He has worked with management teams in connection with executive compensation matters arising in private-equity buyouts and other transactional contexts.

Chris represents sponsors of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) in implementing and administering ESOPs, including advising sponsors and selling shareholders in acquisition transactions between the company, selling shareholders and the ESOP. Further, Chris represents employers in the design and implementation of qualified retirement plans, including defined benefit plans (both traditional and cash-balance designs), focusing specifically on the use of qualified plans as tax planning tools for owner and executive groups of privately held entities.

As a routine part of his practice, Chris guides clients through tax-related examinations, appeals, and litigation with various federal, state, and local governmental agencies including litigation in the United States Tax Court.

At Katz Teller, Chris is a shareholder, an elected member of the firm’s Board of Directors, and is a member of the firm’s benefits, retirement plan, and finance committees.

In a world of loud talkers, it is Jody Brant's ability to listen, to thoughtfully consider the input of others before speaking that sets him apart as a lawyer and as a leader.

For his estate and wealth planning practice, Jody excels at listening to, and interpreting clients’ hopes and goals, which allows him to develop strategies that might otherwise have been overlooked.

In his taxation practice, Jody takes the time to listen to every issue before rushing into action enabling him to structure transactions efficiently, minimize negative tax consequences and capitalize on potential tax benefits in the areas of corporate and partnership taxation, individual income taxation, state and local tax matters, and estate tax, and non-profit tax-exemption.

Jody also brings his quiet, thoughtful, well-reasoned approach to our entrepreneurship and family-owned and privately held business groups, where he assists clients and families with the formation of entities, structure, owner/shareholder relationships, business succession and other related issues.

As President and CEO of Katz Teller, Jody provides a soft-spoken, value-based leadership style that helps maximize the strengths of our attorneys and staff so that Katz Teller can continue to deliver superior results for our clients.

There are people who are content with the status quo. Then there are those, like Gabriel Kurcab, who are driven to continually seek out opportunities for self-improvement so they can better serve their clients.

From studying Spanish so he could better communicate with his Cuban grandmother, to exploring the lives of historical figures, if there’s a life lesson to be found, something calculated to achieve greater insight, Gabriel wants to find it. His approach to the practice of law is no different. He is the first to be interested in developing a niche area of expertise or deepening his understanding of a complex or confounding area of the law.

Gabriel’s deliberate approach gives well-rounded perspective and thoughtfulness to the counsel he provides or strategies he recommends to his corporate, healthcare and real estate clients, whom he has counseled through ordinary matters and extraordinary crises, from commercial contracts and shareholder matters through strategic acquisitions.

At Katz Teller, Gabriel is a member of the finance committee and the IT committee.

Matt’s practice is focused on representing privately held businesses. As a trusted advisor, clients look to Matt for advice and guidance on issues that matter the most. From operational issues to exit planning, clients view Matt as a partner in developing and achieving their goals.

In his transactional practice, Matt advises on all aspects of the M&A process. He counsels on buy-side and sell-side transactions, joint ventures, and other combinations. Matt also advises executives and management teams with respect to their employment relationships, incentive/equity arrangements, and transition planning.

Prior to joining Katz Teller, Matt practiced at a boutique M&A firm. He graduated from Indiana University in 2007, with High Distinction, majoring in both Accounting and Finance. He received his J.D. from the University of Cincinnati in 2010. Matt serves on the Board of Directors at Katz Teller, as well as several firm committees.

Clients appreciate that Margaret doesn’t employ a “one size fits all” approach, instead leveraging a thoughtful and thorough conversation to weigh the impact of a range of issues. With estate planning, for instance, that can mean going beyond tax implications to carefully consider dynamics in the client’s family relationships and the strengths and personalities of each individual involved. Whether assisting a young married couple with concerns of how a trust will be administered for their children or utilizing sophisticated planning techniques to minimize estate and transfer taxes, Margaret always considers a variety of issues to ensure excellence in every aspect. This often means encouraging best practices for creditor protection and income tax basis planning and providing for flexibility in the drafting of the client’s documents.

Margaret joined the Katz Teller estate planning, probate and trust administration and tax practice groups as a new partner in July 2021. She brings experience in advanced estate planning techniques, and extensive knowledge of tax planning, along with expertise in corporate law and mergers and acquisitions. After graduating from the University of Florida with an LLM in Taxation in 1994, Margaret began her legal career in a mid-sized law firm in Cincinnati where her practice and training consisted of a variety of “tax buckets.” Her clients benefit from her ability to be detail-oriented while also seeing a big picture and are able to leverage her involvement with a wide range of tax transactions such as 1031 exchanges, split dollar arrangements, generation skipping tax planning, tax-free mergers, and significant work on transactions for a publicly traded company.

Her passion for tax planning includes reading daily tax updates in order to stay apprised of issues that impact her clients. Margaret proactively collaborates with her colleagues at Katz Teller to ensure clients receive the best planning and service.

Margaret’s unique combination of both estate and corporate aptitude help her small business clients navigate the formation of estate plans and trusts, including grantor retained annuity trusts, generation skipping trusts, marital trusts, charitable trusts and domestic asset protection trusts, while also assisting on the business side with exit planning, drafting of operating agreements and buy-sell agreements. Her clients also come to her for tax planning assistance, where she helps in formation and governance of LLCs, partnerships, corporations and tax-exempt organizations.

Outside the office, Margaret enjoys bike riding, hiking and golfing with family and friends to re-energize her creative problem-solving abilities.

Brad has dedicated his life to helping others achieve their full potential.

In the business world, Brad is committed to giving his business clients the guidance they need to make their company what they dreamed it could be. From decisions concerning acquisitions, expansions into new lines of business, organic growth, corporate finance matters, protecting intellectual property and key relationships, risk management, shareholder issues, and many other day-to-day business management issues, Brad thrives on being the partner and guide that entrepreneurs need to achieve greatness for their business.

What clients echo the most is that Brad gives great practical guidance concerning when to stand and fight—and when to walk away.

Brad understands that every business owner eventually needs an exit strategy and understands the pieces to put in place to best position a business for an external sale or an internal succession. While Brad has vast experience handling mergers and acquisitions on both the buy side and the sell side, he also has helped many families develop and successfully implement a family businesses succession plan.

Brad’s commitment to helping others reach their full potential extends outside of his law practice. Brad is involved with the Goering Center for Family and Private Business and specifically the Center’s Next Generation Institute, an 8-session seminar program designed to instruct business owners on the transition of ownership and management from one family generation to the next. Brad created or collaborated on 3 of the 8 sessions, which he also teaches to the family business participants.

For seven years he served on the Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Cincinnati, an organization that provides adult mentors to at-risk children in the community. For over 4 of those years, he was Chairman of the Board, and his heart is still committed to the Organization and its purpose. He saw first-hand how one adult mentor could change the life and destiny of a child and help the child find the path to a successful life. Several years after his tenure at Big Brothers Big Sisters, Brad has collaborated with another former board member to create Med Mentor, a start-up organization whose purpose is to provide an adult mentor to a chronically ill child where the mentor is inflicted with the same disease as the child. The organization’s goal is to provide the guidance and inspiration that chronically inflicted children need to take charge of their circumstance and go on to live happy and successful lives.

While the appearance of John Gierl’s office might suggest otherwise, John is not an avid collector of paperweights. But he is proud of the many stories those paperweights represent.

Perhaps more than any attorney at Katz Teller, John’s shelves overflow with mementos from the significant lending and financing transactions and mergers and acquisitions John has closed over the years. Those glass collectibles trace the range and scope of matters he has handled—from $3.4 million in private equity financing and $125 million in senior secured credit facilities to a $1.4 billion acquisition of hotels throughout the United States.

John’s corporate practice includes corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, financing and private securities transactions. In addition, John has been involved in a variety of franchisor and franchisee organizations, including representation of the Skyline Chili Franchisee Association.

At Katz Teller, John chairs the firm’s finance and opinion committees.

FINANCE & LENDING LAW EXPERIENCE

John represents a number of financial institutions, including Northcreek Mezzanine and WesBanco Bank.

BUSINESS LAW EXPERIENCE

While handling the variety of matters involved in representation of business organizations, including formation, organizational structure, owner relationship and contract issues, John has represented a number of clients in significant merger and acquisition transactions, including most recently: 

• Gould’s Discount Medical – represented the shareholders in stock sale to AdaptHealth 

• SigmaTEK – represented the equity owners in equity sale to Battery Ventures 

• ProTech Home Medical – represented ProTech in connection with the acquisition of several home respiratory and durable medical equipment businesses throughout the United States