Features

Campus News

Alumni Notes

Definition of
excellence

 


INSIDE ARCHIVE


Marketing and
University Communication
UW-Green Bay, CL 815
2420 Nicolet Drive
Green Bay, WI 54311-7001
(920) 465-2214

E-mail: matzken@uwgb.edu

Rev. May 13, 2008

 

Morgan Stanley, Yankee Stadium
part of the job for alumni attorney

Jason Hellwig '96
Securities, finance, transactional law
New York, NY
Hometown: Wauwatosa
UW-Green Bay Major: History, Social Change and Development
Law School: University of Wisconsin '00

Jason Hellwig ’96 is a young attorney with a Park Avenue office and a practice in midtown Manhattan involving some of the world’s most recognizable corporations, investment banks and insurance companies.
      A rising associate with the international firm of Winston & Strawn LLP, Hellwig specializes in capital markets, the issuance of securities, and the financing of both existing and start-up companies.
      Fortune 500 companies and major utilities dot his firm’s client list. He has represented global investment giants Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank in  several complicated joint ventures and cross-border financings.
      He also helped lay the foundation, in a sense, for the new Yankee Stadium. Winston represented the underwriter providing financing to the New York Yankees for their construction of the new stadium to open next April.  Hellwig helped delve into issues relating to ticket revenue, luxury-box sales and baseball’s prospects for labor peace in order to help assure success for the bonding of the billion-dollar project.
      “The day-to-day intellectual challenges make the job enjoyable,” Hellwig says. “You’re problem-solving on a daily basis.”
      A primary task for any attorney is making sure risk and exposure are adequately understood and minimized.  To do that, Hellwig needs a clear understanding of both the client’s business and its long-term goals.   The desired conclusion is smooth and successful, satisfactory to the parties involved, and one that avoids disputes which might lead to future litigation.
      “As a transactional attorney,” he dryly notes, “you try to avoid that.”
      Recent shocks have altered the landscape. Winston’s offices look down the street to Bear Stearns, the formerly high-flying investment bank sent crashing by speculative excess and the credit crunch. Their meltdown, he says, only affirms the need for cautious representation by attorneys vigilant in protecting their clients’ interests.
      “The complexity of today’s financial products has also resulted in the practice of law becoming increasingly complex,” Hellwig says. He also notes that this trend is reinforced by the intricate interplay between the U.S. economy and markets around the world.
      It helps, he said, that straight out of UW-Green Bay he enrolled in a master’s program at the London School of Economics, with an emphasis in international relations. “There were students there from nearly every country in the world,” he says, “and the opportunity to learn with them, and understand international issues through their eyes, was very valuable.”  Hellwig’s international education continued at the UW law school, where he spent a semester exchange at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.
      “I took almost every class in Social Change and Development during my time at UW-Green Bay. Professors Kaye, Craig Lockard and (the late) Tony Galt were great teachers and mentors. I use the skills learned through the department’s interdisciplinary focus and problem-solving approach everyday. A phenomenal experience.”
      Time as student government president: “(Former) Dean of Students Jerry Olson was a great example of both an administrator and an educator. He was a strong supporter of student governance and the University as a whole… He helped instill a sense of professionalism and respect in student government because he demonstrated those same traits when working with students.”
      Memorable case:  Pro bono, Hellwig helped a Tibetan refugee gain political asylum in the United States, in a case that exposed him to the complexities of INS law and matched his interests in international affairs and human rights.
      Advice to current students: “The opportunity to wake up every day, take courses and learn something new is something often overlooked. Those opportunities will be fewer and harder to find after your years at the University.  In addition, students should consider taking a class they wouldn’t normally consider. You might be surprised at how much you learn about the subject and about yourself.”


Click here to download a PDF file of the entire May 2008 issue of Inside magazine.