Biography

Partner in home office of 725+ lawyer firm.  Lead counsel in wide variety of real estate and corporate transactions, including:

• Acquisition, development, construction, financing and leasing transactions on behalf of retail developers and property managers including deals with Wal Mart, K Mart, Toys”R”Us, Blockbuster, Barnes & Noble, Burger King, Taco Bell, Walgreen’s, Circuit City, KFC/Pizza Hut Express, Bay Furniture, Wickes Furniture, Nobel Learning Centers, Bubbleland, OfficeMax, Loehmann’s, Chili’s, Red Lobster, Max & Erma’s, Dunkin Donuts, Baskin Robbins, Southland Corp., JoAnn Fabrics, Evans Apparel, Helzberg Diamonds, Rockbottom Brewery, HomeTown Buffet, Sweet Tomatoes, Sally Beauty and  Cold Stone Creamery;
• Office, industrial, retail and residential acquisition, land use, development, construction, exchange, financing, leasing and sale transactions including on behalf of Great Lakes REIT, General Growth Properties, Podolsky Northstar Realty Partners, Klaff Realty, East Lake Management & Development, Next Realty, Pine Tree Commercial Realty, AEG Real Estate Advisors, Inter-Continental Realty & Development, Belle Realty, Bradford Property Corporation, Cambridge Homes, Omni Development, Bedrock Investments, Welsh Investments, James Kaplan Companies, NLC Realty Venture, New Channels Realty, Lurie Investments, Monroe Investment Partners and MDC, Inc.;
• Leasing, acquisition, land use, disposition, development, construction, exchange and finance transactions on behalf of “non-real estate” businesses generally, including on behalf of Ubiquity Brands/Jays Foods, Motorola, Exxon, Tellabs, Kemper Sports, Baxter, DeVry, American Classic Voyages, Sky Chefs, Sealy, Flender, Bowater, Novus Credit Services, Transcell Technology, Royal Crown Bottling, DS America, A.B. Dick, S-K Hand Tool, Marketing Werks, Hassett Air Express, Sonora Produce, International Flavors & Fragrances, Heitman Financial, NanoInk, Hedge Fund Research, Bake Line Group, United Plastics, Pasco Beverages, Chicago Historical Society, National University of Health Sciences, Scherer Schneider Paulick, Warady & Davis, Ross Dixon & Bell, Welsh & Katz, Flexi-Mat, Preferred Freezer Services, Environmental Systems Design, Hudson Manufacturing, Suntec Industries, and Sternberg Lanterns;
• Leases, acquisitions and sales on behalf of retailers and restaurant owners in offices, power centers, enclosed malls and other shopping areas, including for Michaels Stores, The Sports Authority, Follett Bookstores, Earl Scheib, Fast Fresh Italian (Go Roma!), Chicago Architecture Foundation, Yaohan U.S.A. Corporation, BW-3 Restaurants, Woolrich, Ultimo Enterprises, Smog Test Only Centers and Daikichi Sushi;
• Telecommunications service licenses and site leases on behalf of property owners including with AT&T Wireless PCS, Cellular One, U.S. Cellular, Nextel, Pinnacle Towers, Motorola, Sprint Spectrum, FiberNet Equal Access, U.S. West and Qwest Communications;
• Chilled water service and other utility agreements on behalf of property owners including Chicago Theatre and Union League Club with Unicom Thermal Technologies;
• Construction contracts and architect agreements on behalf of owners/developers, contractors, subcontractors and design professionals;
• Eminent domain/condemnation proceedings on behalf of commercial property owners including against the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District;
• Rezonings, annexations and other land use matters, including on behalf of Motorola in connection with development of an 880,000 square foot office and research laboratory campus, for Marshall Field’s in connection with expansion of a warehouse and distribution facility, for Copley Press in connection with development of a new publishing facility and for MDC in connection with development of a new freight forwarding facility; and
• Secured loans, loan workouts and foreclosures on behalf of both lenders and borrowers including deed in lieu transaction concerning mixed use office, retail and residential project and foreclosure of residential/golf course development.

Education

J.D., Northwestern University (1987)

Note and Comment Editor (1986 87) and Staff Member (1985 86), Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology
Author, Note, “Fourth Amendment - Reasonableness of Surgical Intrusions,” Winston v. Lee, 105 S.Ct. 1611 (1985), 76J.Crim.L. & Criminology 972 (1985)

A.B. in Political Science, University of Michigan (1984)

Four Year Honors Program; Dean’s List

Admissions

• Illinois

Courts

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