Jacob Ouzts

Jacob (“Jake”) Ouzts is a Director in Fennemore’s Business & Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Agribusiness, Real Estate and Business Litigation departments.   Jake effectively and meticulously advises and guides clients through the acquisition and disposition of both real estate and business assets and entities.   As a skilled and experienced drafter and negotiator, Jake does not just represent clients on acquisitions and dispositions, but also on most other phases of owning and operating a business or real estate.  Jake represents clients with respect to entity formation, financing, intra company agreements (shareholder agreements, buy-sell agreements, etc.), and also agreements relating to third-party relations, such as easements, leases, options, construction contracts, employment agreements, technology agreements, purchase and sale agreements, and many other contracts.    From smaller scale family farmers, small business owners, local water companies, single asset commercial landlords and landowners, to larger regional developers, global agricultural companies and brand-named businesses, Jake’s personal and attentive approach to client matters, and obsessive and relentless desire create winning solutions for his clients, makes him well suited for a wide variety of clients and matters.

While Jake’s primary focus is on transactional matters, as a skilled and seasoned litigation attorney recognized by Sacramento Magazine as one of the top litigators in the Sacramento area, he still devotes a portion of his practice to litigation matters, primarily involving real estate and business disputes.   While Jake is capable of and has successfully handled make it or break it type litigation matters for individuals and companies involving maters in dispute in excess of $100,000,000, having a litigation background makes him uniquely suited to negotiate and draft deals and contracts for clients with an eye towards avoiding the many legal pitfalls that often result in litigation.   While the risk of litigation is never one hundred percent avoidable, Jake takes a client first approach when counseling clients before they decide to bite the litigation bullet.  Jake will be the first to try and find a business solution to the problem.  Jake’s experience and thinking outside of the box mentality has proven to be a valuable asset for both transactional and litigation clients in achieving innovative solutions to complex problems.  Of course, when diplomacy fails, Jake is more than equipped for the fight.  Jake has successfully defended or prosecuted matters involving easement disputes, lease disputes, purchase and sale agreement disputes, construction disputes, partnership disputes, commercial litigation (primarily involving indemnity agreements), development agreement disputes and shareholder disputes, just to name a few.

While Jake will be first to tell you that there is no “outside of the office” mindset for an attorney who is willing to dedicate the time and attention necessary to achieve top tier results for clients, when not “physically” in the office, you can likely find Jake along the river fly-fishing, in a duck blind, in a field or on a mountain chasing game (and cooking it to share with friends and family), coaching his two son’s little league teams, or rooting on the Kansas City Chiefs (Yes, KC was his team long before Taylor Swift).

• J.D., magna cum laude, University of California, Davis
• B.A., University of California, Davis

• Witkin Award in Marital Property, Real Property, Legal Writing and Research I, Legal Writing and Research II, Environmental Law, Mediation, Contracts

• Order of the Coif

• California