After spending over 30 years at big law as a corporate M & A attorney, Jeff launched Descente Business Transition Advisors to help private business owners who have spent a lifetime building a valuable business transition out of the business. He provides business advisory services for business owners to help them plan for and implement a successful business transition. He takes a very collaborative approach and helps build the right team needed to achieve a successful transition.

Jeff recently retired from Lane Powell, PC where he was a shareholder and chaired the firm’s business transition practice group. Jeff was named a Best Lawyer in Best Lawyers in America Mergers and Acquisitions (2013-2021) and a Super Lawyer in Oregon Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters, Mergers and Acquisitions (2009 – 2020). He attained his certification as an Exit Planning Advisor from the Exit Planning Institute and has written numerous articles and been a featured speaker on many business transition topics, including presentations at the Austin Family Business Program, Financial Planning Association of Oregon and SW Washington and many presentations for private bank clients.

Jeff received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and his B.A. cum laude with certificate in commerce from Washington and Lee University where he double majored in business administration and philosophy. Jeff is an ardent outdoor enthusiast and lives on a 38-acre farm in Wilsonville, Oregon where he is a gentleman farmer. He also owns 1,000 acres in South Dakota where he grows soybeans, sunflowers, and milo.