Attorney Bruno W. Tabis
Martindale-Hubbell® AV Preeminent, Peer Rated for Highest Level of Professional Excellence, 2024

Bruno W. Tabis

Practice Areas

  • Business Services
  • Business Succession Planning
  • Commercial
  • Wealth Transfer and Estate Planning

Contact

Biography

Bruno W. Tabis, Jr. joined Huck Bouma in 2018, after previously practicing in Chicago for nearly 40 years. Bruno serves as general counsel for closely held businesses, concentrating on the formation and maintenance of corporations and LLCs, mergers and acquisitions, employment matters, contract negotiations and UCC issues, as well as consulting and advising the principals on general business matters.

His commercial real estate practice includes purchases and sales, condominium development and conversions, project development and construction contracting, leasing, property management and environmental compliance, permitting and remediation.

Bruno counsels business owners and individuals on estate and succession planning, preparation of Wills, Trusts, and Powers of Attorney, and is experienced in probate proceedings and trust and estate management and administration.

He also practices in the areas of financial institutions and finance, representing both banks and borrowers in loan documentation, mortgage and real estate financing, UCC financing, workouts, forbearances, renegotiations and commercial short sales.

Currently residing in the Stonebridge area of Aurora, Bruno had lived in Wheaton for 35 years, where he continues to be active in the community. He was a founding member and on the original board of directors for the New 200 Foundation and was a long-time member of St. Paul Lutheran Church where he served as President. His wife, Stacie Pierce, teaches English at Wheaton-Warrenville South High School.

Bruno has been rated AV "Preeminent"by Martindale-Hubbell and named to Chicago's Top Rated Lawyers.
Bruno is an accomplished technical, deep wreck SCUBA diver. He has explored numerous Lake Michigan shipwrecks, including the 370 foot deep Carl D. Bradley, a Great Lakes freighter and Edmund Fitzgerald look-alike which also broke up in a November storm.

Education

  • Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois
    • J.D. - 1973
    • Honors: With Distinction
  • University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois
    • B.A.
    • Major: English Literature

Bar Admissions

  • Illinois
  • U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois

Professional Associations

  • Illinois State Bar Association
  • Illinois State Bar Association, Real Estate Law Section Council, Chairman, 1993 to 1994
  • Illinois State Bar Association, Real Estate Law Section Council, Chair, 2022 to 2023
  • DuPage County Bar Association, Section Council, Business Law and Practice Section, Member
  • Chicago Bar Association, Board of Managers, 1983 to 1985
  • Chicago Bar Association, Young Lawyers Section, Chairman, 1982 to 1983
  • Chicago Bar Association, Herman Kogan Media Awards Committee, Member and former Chairman
  • American Bar Association
  • Chicago Mortgage Attorneys Association

Published Works

  • “Illinois Totten Trust: The Rights of Legal Representative of a Beneficiary Who Predeceases the Trustee”, Chicago- Kent Law Review: Vol 48, Iss. 1, reviewed in American Bar Association Journal , vol. 58, August, 1972, p. 876
  • ”Totten Trusts Tottering in Illinois” resulting in statutory revision of statute, now incorporated into “Illinois Trust and Payable on Death Accounts Act”, 205 ILCS 625/1 et seq
  • “Illinois Conservator’s Right to Invade Joint Savings Account”
  • Chicago- Kent Law Review, vol. 48, Iss. 2, most recently cited by Wisconsin Supreme Court in Johnnie Russ vs. Elliott Russ(2007), 2007 WI 83, 302 Wisc 2d 264, 734 N.W. 2d 874

Honors

  • AV “Preeminent”by Martindale-Hubbell
  • Chicago’s Top Rated Lawyers

Classes & Seminars

  • DuPage County Bar Association, Business Law MCLE Meeting, “Common Provisions Affecting Transferability of Ownership Interests in Closely Held Corporations and LLCs,” May 14, 2019
  • Illinois State Bar Association “Legislative Update,” Real Estate Law Update 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 “Listing Agreements/Engagement Letters/Disclosure Forms,” Residential Real Estate Transactions from Listing to Closing, 2015
  • Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education “Estate Planning with Real Estate”; 11th Annual Real Estate Short Course, 2015 “Statutory Update”; 10th Annual Real Estate Short Course, 2014
  • DuPage County Bar Association “Hot TODIs and Other Real Estate Cures,” Joint Presentation of Estate Planning and Probate Law and Practice Real Estate Law and Practice Sections, 2014
  • West Suburban Illini Alumni Association “Legal Considerations in Business Entity Formation and Maintenance,” 2014
  • LORMAN Education Seminars-CLE presenter on finance, title insurance, survey, environmental and real estate matters at multiple seminars
  • Omni Juris Banking Seminar, Annecy, France 1998-presenter Impact of Environmental Law on American Banks
  • Chicago Bar Association, Kane County Bar Association and other organizations -Presenter on environmental, bank lending and real estate matters at multiple seminars
  • Instructor, IIT-Chicago-Kent College of Law, Real Estate Document Drafting (1978-79)

Published Works

  • “Illinois Totten Trust: The Rights of Legal Representative of a Beneficiary Who Predeceases the Trustee”, Chicago- Kent Law Review: Vol 48, Iss. 1, reviewed in American Bar Association Journal , vol. 58, August, 1972, p. 876
  • ”Totten Trusts Tottering in Illinois” resulting in statutory revision of statute, now incorporated into “Illinois Trust and Payable on Death Accounts Act”, 205 ILCS 625/1 et seq
  • “Illinois Conservator’s Right to Invade Joint Savings Account”
  • Chicago- Kent Law Review, vol. 48, Iss. 2, most recently cited by Wisconsin Supreme Court in Johnnie Russ vs. Elliott Russ(2007), 2007 WI 83, 302 Wisc 2d 264, 734 N.W. 2d 874

Pro-Bono Activities

  • Wheaton Lions Club .NEW 200 Foundation (now Student Excellence Foundation), founding member and original board member
  • St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wheaton, Illinois