Colleen M. Frei

Colleen has practiced ag law at JDSA for over 15 years. As a partner & member of the firm's management committee, Colleen can attest that JDSA proudly represents its clients and serves at the forefront of agricultural law, advising on a variety of issues for over a half-century.

Colleen is passionate about what she does & the people she interacts with, fully committed to the agriculture industry & being part of the team to help ag clients be successful. Her legal work in support of ag clients involves all aspects of the operations & business, from land to crop to harvest, & from business conception & funding through succession planning, including:

Operational Matters:

• Land & real estate-real estate purchase & sales, row crop & orchard land leases, crop profit sharing arrangements
• Water rights-Bureau of Reclamation water & RRA reporting, WA Department of Ecology water rights permitting, certificates, change applications with Water Conservancy Boards, Trust Water Rights Program
• Crop financing
• Ag labor matters-H-2A temporary ag workers, employee housing, employment policies & benefits, farm labor contractor licensing, farming management operations
• Variety patent licensing, trademarks, nursery contracts
• Warehouse grower contracts, fruit handling agreements-WA Commission Merchants Act, PACA licensing, pooling & account sales
• Crop liens
• Marketing & sales, preferred supplier agreements, distribution & trade, IC DISC structuring, food labeling & packaging
• USDA FSA & Farm Bill programs, including TAP, MFP, CFAP
• Vendor agreements-retailer, producer, supplier, brokerage agreements
• Ag insurance-crop insurance, product liability, recall insurance

Business & Structure Matters:

• Business structure-taxes & organization
• Merger & acquisition-stock & asset purchase, due diligence & feasibility
• Foreign ownership implications-BEA, AFIDA
• Financing & lender relations-operating lines, land & development loans, equipment leases
• Succession planning, including estate & tax planning

Farming is Colleen's family legacy. Her maternal grandparents were dairy farmers & her fraternal grandparents were row crop farmers. She loved driving combine & grain truck during her youth (albeit, it's much better with AC in the cabs now!) & the deep satisfaction of a good day's work in the fields. While farming is key to Colleen's upbringing, her education & experience in the ag industry continues to fuel Colleen's commitment to agriculture, the people & the products.

When Colleen isn't practicing law, she enjoys outdoor sports- skiing, hiking, camping, rafting and snow-shoeing. Her loves include her family, traveling, reading and gardening.