Professional Experience:
Joe Mella has almost twenty years of experience representing businesses and individuals with real estate sales, acquisitions, and leasing, including title matters, financing and real estate specific tax matters, such as like-kind exchanges.  In addition he counsels individuals and businesses in all aspects of the real estate development process, including zoning, annexations, municipal negotiations, and development agreements.

Joe also has extensive experience representing closely held businesses and individuals with business acquisitions, mergers, and divestitures, including all aspects of transactional due diligence and documentation. 

Joe advises health care organizations on single owner and multi-owner health care practice acquisitions and divestitures. He further assists health care practitioners on the legal aspects of facility acquisition, development, and sales. As a business attorney, Joe has extensive experience managing complicated transactions and is a great resource when providing counsel to health care practitioners and organizations on general corporate matters and governance, as well as practice organizational structures. A particular focus is working with health care practitioners and organizations on ownership and practice expansion and transition planning.

Recent engagements include:

• Represented a group of real estate investors in over thirty million dollars worth of real estate divestiture transactions, which included buyer assumption of existing, securitized debt.
• Counseled several groups of real estate investors with existing debt restructurings and work outs.
• Assisted a privately held radio station ownership company in the acquisition of several radio broadcasting facilities throughout the Midwest.
• Represented a publicly held company with a complex title matter clarification arising from rail road right of way claims.
• Assisted several privately held health care services firms with office facility acquisitions and ownership restructuring.
• Provided local counsel representation services to multi-national companies for secured financing transactions.
  
  

Education:
B.A. (with distinction), University of Wisconsin - Madison (1988)
J.D., University of Wisconsin - Madison (1991)

Admitted to Practice:
Wisconsin Supreme Court
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin

Bar Associations:
American Bar Association

Section Member: Business Law; Environmental, Energy, and Resources; Real Property, Trust & Estate Law

State Bar of Wisconsin

Section Member: Business Law; Environmental Law; Real Property

Marathon County Bar Association

Professional Recognition:

Best Lawyers in America®, Real Estate Law (2010)

Teaching Activities:

University of Wisconsin Law School

Adjunct Faculty Member for Lawyering Skills Course (2008 to present)

Wisconsin Bar Association

Presenter for Build Your Practice series (2009 to present)

Professional Activities:
Town of Rib Mountain,

Chairman of the Town Board of Zoning Appeals (2000 - present)

Civic Activities:
Central Wausau Progress, Director (2002 - present)
Main Street - Wausau, President and member Board of Directors (2003 - present)
Wausau Area Events, Inc., Vice President and Director (2001 - present)
Wausau Area Mobile Meals, Inc., Director and Vice President (1996 - present)
Wausau Dance Theatre, Board Member (2005 - present)