Janzer succeeds by intensely serving clients

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During high school and part of law school, Jerry Janzer worked for his family’s small business, Janzer’s Religious Articles. While it may have seemed he was headed for a career in business, Janzer had something else in mind.

“I’m told I always wanted to be a lawyer,” he said. “I don’t know why. My parents told me. I think I liked the concept of helping people and advocating for people.”

The two paths intersected when Janzer found himself working in corporate and real estate law as a young associate at Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren.

Today, he has more than 30 years of experience in corporate and real estate law and is the firm’s CEO and a shareholder in the Real Estate and Corporate Law practice. His fellow Reinhart shareholder Bruce Block, also Janzer’s mentor, says Janzer is successful because of his attention to detail, intense concern for clients, professionalism and skill at problem-solving.

“The same intensity he brings to serving clients, he brings to serving the firm,” said Block. “He really cares about the organization as an organization.”

In 2006, he took the reins at Reinhart, leading the firm through a recession. While much of the legal industry was shrinking, Reinhart grew.

“We just have had a tremendous group of lawyers here, a tremendous group of colleagues who are extremely talented in what they do,” he said.  “We have a very diverse practice and client base, which helped in the recession.”

Janzer also credits Reinhart’s success to the firm’s dedication to clients.

“Don’t just go along for the ride,” he said. “Live their matters. Make it important to you just as it is for them. You have a client forever when you do that.”

Janzer believes that dedication to clients will be essential to how Reinhart and lawyers in general fit into the future of the legal industry.

“There’s a trusted advisor role that is necessary and that clients value and you cannot just obtain that through some of the things that are projected,” he said. “I don’t think they’ll ever replace the roles we play.

Outside work, Janzer is heavily involved with Marquette Law School and various community organizations. This year, he was co-chair of the Boys and Girls Club’s 2017 Annual Fun Drive.

“I just feel like you get to a certain part of your life when you need to give back,” he said.