GROWTH & IMPACT WEEK SPEAKER LINEUP
The speakers at Growth and Impact Week are award-winning advisors, operators, and thought leaders who don’t just understand growth and impact, they execute it. Each speaker has been selected for their ability to translate methodology into real-world implementation, sharing how they’ve built in-demand practices through intentional, ROI-driven relationships with business owners. Expect candid perspectives, practical frameworks, and honest discussion around what works in today’s market, from client selection and trust-building to accountability, culture, and value creation. This is not a stage of theorists; it’s a room of practitioners committed to helping you apply what you learn and accelerate results in your firm.
Jeffrey O'Brien
A corporate and transactional attorney who thinks holistically about clients’ businesses, Jeffrey often serves clients for decades.
Jeffrey began his legal career at a firm that focused on both real estate and traditional corporate transactions, and...
ABOUT JEFFREY
A corporate and transactional attorney who thinks holistically about clients’ businesses, Jeffrey often serves clients for decades.
Jeffrey began his legal career at a firm that focused on both real estate and traditional corporate transactions, and he quickly discovered that he thrived on closing deals. Almost a quarter century later, he still finds it exciting and rewarding to get a client’s deal across the finish line, and he loves seeing the business growth that results—especially when it’s tangible real property that can be visited in real life.
Primarily a business attorney with a focus on corporate transactions, Jeffrey regularly oversees mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and private securities offerings. He also frequently handles ancillary real estate deals, including commercial leasing, land acquisition, loan documentation, purchase and sale of residential and commercial property, and resolution of title matters. While Jeffrey supports clients in a variety of industries, he has built a strong niche practice in the hospitality realm, often representing restaurants, bars, and breweries. After cannabis was partially legalized in Minnesota in 2023, he began representing businesses in the burgeoning industrial hemp and cannabis industries as well and has become a leading attorney in the Minnesota cannabis world.
Jeffrey works with clients who have branches, offices, and restaurants across the country, and he joined Husch Blackwell in 2024 to ensure nationwide coverage for the organizations he represents. He handles deals with values in the low millions up to hundreds of millions—but he treats every deal like a major deal, because he knows no transaction is small or insignificant to the client. Jeffrey is known for going beyond an individual transaction and thinking holistically about the client’s business and its future: he structures deals and gives advice with an eye to the organization’s long-term goals, often all the way to an eventual exit strategy. His ability to serve as a business partner draws clients back again and again, and Jeffrey has served many of the same clients for nearly 20 years.