Michael W. Vogel
Practice Areas: Estate Planning; Probate; Trust Administration; Taxation; Corporate; and Real Estate
Admitted to Bar: Wisconsin and Illinois; United States District Court, Western District of Wisconsin; United States District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin; and U.S. Tax Court
Law School: Regent Law School, 1996
College: University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, B.A., magna cum laude, 1994 - Political Science with a minor in History
Member: State Bar of Wisconsin and Illinois State Bar Association
Published Article(s): "Proposed Legislation Would Repeal Estate, Gift and GST Taxes," Estate Planning, August/September 2000
Born: Janesville, Wisconsin, November 20, 1970
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Attorney Vogel was born in Janesville, WI on November 20, 1970. His ancestors have lived in Rock County, Wisconsin since prior to 1900 and in Wisconsin since the 1840s. His grandfather owned and operated Vogel’s Meat Market, which was located on W. Milwaukee Street in Janesville for nearly 40 years. He is the youngest of 10 children and graduated from Parker High School in Janesville, Wisconsin. He then graduated magna cum laude (with great academic distinction) from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater with a major in Political Science and a minor in History. He remains very interested in history and is an avid fan of various history authors and political figure biographies. After completing his undergraduate degree, he attended Regent Law School in Virginia Beach, Virginia. While in law school, Attorney Vogel was selected to serve on the staff of the Regent Law Review due to his excellent writing skills. Only 11 other students in his law school class received the honor.
He graduated from Regent Law in 1996. Immediately following his graduation, he returned to Janesville, Wisconsin. He passed the Wisconsin bar exam by scoring in the 90th percentile on the Wisconsin portion of the bar exam. He began his law practice with another law firm in Janesville and became a partner of that firm in less than four years.
Since graduating from law school, Attorney Vogel has concentrated his efforts on establishing a practice focused on the areas of trusts and estates, taxation, corporate, and real estate law. In 2003, he resigned from his previous partnership and established Vogel Law Firm, Ltd. He is recognized as a preeminent estate planning and probate attorney in Rock County, Wisconsin and is regularly called upon by other attorneys in the area to provide assistance to their clients. As such, he assists clients with the drafting of simple wills to very complex estate and gift tax matters all in an effort to provide the proper plan or administration for each family or business. His motto is “from the very simple to the most complex.” He has prepared more than 2,500 estate plans for clients and represented clients in hundreds of probate, trust administration, and guardianship matters. He strives to give clients the tools to anticipate problems and plan for the future. He represents multiple families with net worth exceeding $20 million and is experienced with complex estate planning options to alleviate tax liability. In 2004, Attorney Vogel established River Title Company in Janesville, Wisconsin. The ownership of River Title Company provided Attorney Vogel with a deep knowledge of real estate transactions and title insurance. In 2018, after owning River Title Company for 14 years, Attorney Vogel sold River Title Company to Knight Barry Title.
In 2006 and 2007, Attorney Vogel was selected as a “Rising Star” based upon selection by his peers and other criteria. This designation is reserved only for attorneys who are under age 40 or who have been in practice less than 10 years. “Rising Stars” are ranked by a statewide survey and only 2.5% of the best up-and-coming attorneys in Wisconsin are named to the list. See superlawyers.com for additional information. “Rising Stars” are published in Milwaukee Magazine on an annual basis.
Attorney Vogel strives for excellence and recognizes that for an attorney to properly serve his clients, the attorney must continually strive to keep up with law changes and planning possibilities. He regularly attends The Heckerling Institute (the most prestigious Estate Planning educational seminar in the world). In addition, he is a published author on the subject of estate and gift tax reform. His article titled “Proposed Legislation Would Repeal Estate, Gift, and GST Taxes” was published in the prestigious national journal, Estate Planning in the August/September 2000 issue. This article examined a federal legislative proposal that later became law. In addition, the National Business Institute, which is an organization that holds continuing legal education instruction for lawyers, regularly asks Attorney Vogel to write and speak for seminars regarding estate planning and probate administration. Attorney Vogel is specifically selected to teach other lawyers in these practice areas.
In 2015, Attorney Michael W. Vogel received the rating of AV Preeminent® by Martindale-Hubbell®. An AV Preeminent® rating is evidence that other lawyers, who know Attorney Vogel's work, rate him at the highest level of professional skill and ethical standards. Martindale-Hubbell® is the most respected organization, which rates attorneys throughout the world. Only 10 active attorneys in Rock County, Wisconsin hold this designation.
Attorney Vogel is married and lives in Janesville with his wife and six children. He is an active member of River Hills Community Church in Janesville, Wisconsin and has served as an elder of River Hills Community Church. His hobbies include theology, reading, hunting (he shot his largest buck ever on opening day of the 2015 gun season), fishing (especially fishing for trout out west with his sons, nephews, and a close friend), golf (if he’s playing well at the time), and spending time with his wife and children.