Bruce L. Harms

Bruce L. Harms is a partner in the Madison, Wisconsin office of Axley Brynelson, LLP.  His legal practice focuses on representation of businesses with regard to entity formation, contract negotiations, relationships between co-owners, securities matters, business tax planning, representation of real estate developers and buyers and sellers of real estate, and lender/borrower representation.

He received his B.B.A. in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 1972 as well as his Juris Doctor degree in 1975.  Bruce is also a Certified Public Accountant, and he has often been heard to say that he has as close an affinity for debits and credits as he does for rules of law.  He has previously served on committees of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants responsible for the preparation of the business law portion of the CPA exam.

He has been a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin – Madison School of Business from 1975 until his recent retirement in May, 2017.  During those 42 years he taught various undergraduate and graduate business law classes.  His primary instructional activity was teaching undergraduate business law which is a required course for all Business School majors.  In 2014, Bruce converted the course to a hybrid or “flipped” instructional methodology – online lectures, face-to-face discussion sections and computer- administered exams.  Since 1975, Bruce has enjoyed the distinct honor and privilege of teaching business law to more than 32,000 students.

Harms has been named “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers^© for Corporate Law in Madison; he was recognized in The Best Lawyers in America^© for work in Corporate Law and Real Estate Law; and has been named to the Wisconsin Super Lawyers Lists (Primary Area of Practice: Real Estate Law).  He is AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ in recognition of the highest level of professional excellence.