Jeffrey G. Lenhart

Mr. Lenhart has substantial experience in business formation, health care, succession planning, and mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. His practice also specializes in estate planning (with particular emphasis in representing family-owned businesses) and employee benefits, including creation of leveraged ESOPs. In all these areas, Mr. Lenhart brings to bear substantial technical and practical experience and expertise in federal, state and local taxation law.

Experience

• Served as lead counsel to nationally ranked poultry processor, successfully negotiating the sale of its stock, preceded by the spin-off of substantial non-core assets in a Zenz transaction
• Facilitated multiple tax-free spin-offs of corporate divisions, including obtaining private letter rulings from the Internal Revenue Service
• Negotiated and consummated numerous taxable and tax-free business transactions on behalf of private business clients, recently including the acquisition of a multi-state electronics enterprise and the acquisition of a Canadian corporation
• Successfully litigated a case of first impression regarding application of state law non-discrimination standards to self-insured health plans in US District Court and the US Court of Appeals
• Negotiated the formation, restructuring and division of numerous professional associations
• Assisted philanthropic individuals in creating significant Charitable Lead, Remainder and Dynasty Trusts to balance tax savings, philanthropy and family asset stewardship
• Assisted hundreds of families in developing estate and financial plans as well as providing estate administration advice, including estates involving augmented estate claims, pretermitted heirs and significant and complex tax issues with the Internal Revenue Service
• Successfully negotiated with the Appeals Division of the Internal Revenue Service regarding the characterization of a substantial cattle operation as a hobby loss
• Negotiated joint ventures between medical practices and tax exempt health care organizations

Honors and Awards

• "Legal Elite," Virginia Business Magazine, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007
•  AV* Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®
• Named to Best Lawyers in America®, Corporate Law, 2006 - 2009
• "Super Lawyer," Virginia Super Lawyers Magazine, Business/Corporate 2006, 2007, 2008

Education

• Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, District of Columbia
  LL.M (Taxation), with distinction, 1994
• College of William and Mary, School of Law, Williamsburg, Virginia
  J.D., 1987
• College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia
  A.B., 1984

Professional and Community Associations

• Shenandoah Valley Educational Public TV (WVPT Channel-51), Past Chair
• Harrisonburg Rotary Club, Past President, 2001 - 2002
• Rockingham Memorial Hospital Foundation 1995 – 2003, Past Chair
• Virginia Bar Association Board of Governors - Taxation, 1999 – 2005
• VBA/VSB Joint Commission on Multidisciplinary Practice
• American Health Lawyers Association
• Harrisonburg-Rockingham Bar Association, President, 2008-2009

Published Works

• Author: "ERISA Preemption: The Effect of Stop-Loss Insurance on Self-Insured Health Plans," 14 Virginia Tax Review 615, Winter, 1995

*CV, BV and AV are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies.