Interests
Jeff is married with one child and is a proud veteran of the U.S. Army. He is very active in the community as a girls’ basketball and softball coach, and enjoys playing golf.
Jeff Cormell
Jeff Cormell focuses his practice on civil, commercial and real estate litigation throughout northwest Wisconsin. Additionally, Jeff represents tribal entities as outside counsel for Tribal Nations, while also representing tribal members in Tribal Courts. Jeff is part of Bakke Norman’s robust municipal practice, representing municipalities in their litigation matters. He brings a solution-oriented approach to representing clients, focusing on solving the issue while always preparing to win the case at trial.
Jeff joined Bakke Norman in 2019 after serving as General Counsel for the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin. Jeff’s case, St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin v. Schimel, was instrumental in Wisconsin’s recognition of exclusive tribal civil jurisdiction over reservation activity related to growing and cultivating hemp. He has national experience in the cannabis industry and focuses that experience in Wisconsin to assist clients in all aspects of the industry.
Education
- Mitchell Hamline School of Law, JD
- University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, MA in History
- University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, BA History and American Indian Studies
- Johnson & Wales University – AS in Culinary
Practice Areas
- Business
- Real Estate and Municipal Litigations
- Tribal Representation and Cannabis Law
Contact
- 715.231.4731
- 815-927-0411
- jcormell@bakkenorman.com
- Aaron Steines, Legal Assistant
asteines@bakkenorman.com
Awards, Honors And Professional Accomplishments
- Jeff Cormell has vast experience in Federal Indian Law matters, and in recent years specialized in tribal hemp operations. He was an integral part of creating Wisconsin’s industrial hemp law, Act 100, and lobbied for inclusion of Tribal Nations in the industrial hemp section of the 2018 Federal Farm Bill. His expertise is aimed at all levels of the cannabis industry including dealing with state and federal legislators and regulatory agencies. Jeff’s experience in tribal law and his specialized knowledge of the emerging areas of hemp and CBD is a natural fit with Bakke Norman’s existing team of business and litigation attorneys.
- Jeff was part of a team that devised a five tranche $78,850,000 loan involving 4 banks and utilization of new market tax credits for one of his Tribal Nation clients that was recognized with the “Deal of the Year” by the Native American Finance Officers Association (NAFOA).