LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – Fifteen real estate attorneys from the law firm DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary are named in the 2006 edition of The International Who’s Who of Real Estate Lawyers, the latest honor for the premier practice group.
“We are delighted with this exceptional achievement,” said Francis B. Burch, Jr., and Lee I. Miller, Joint CEOs of DLA Piper. “The work of the Real Estate group has long been outstanding, and it is just one aspect of the deep, broad talent and top-flight client service at our firm.”
DLA Piper’s 2006 International Who’s Who of Real Estate lawyers are: Stephen A. Cowan, San Francisco, CA.; Charles L. Edwards, Chicago, IL.; Jay A. Epstien, Washington, D.C.; Robert H. Goldman, Chicago, IL.; Howard E. Kane, Chicago, IL.; Frederick L. Klein, Washington, D.C.; Michael E. Meyer, Los Angeles, CA.; Portia O. Morrison, Chicago, IL.; Martin D. Polevoy, New York, NY.; Harold B. Pomerantz, Chicago, IL.; Elliot M. Surkin, Boston, MA.; David Taylor, London, UK.; Alan Wayte, Los Angeles, CA.; Caryl B.Welborn, San Francisco, CA.; and Pamela L. Westhoff, Los Angeles, CA.
The listing is the latest honor for DLA Piper’s Real Estate practice group. In 2005, The International Who’s Who for Real Estate Lawyers ranked them as the premier Real Estate practice in the world. Practical Law Company’s Global Counsel Corporate Real Estate Handbook ranks DLA Piper as the top Real Estate practice in the U.S., and Chambers and Partners named 20 of the firm’s real estate attorneys as leading lawyers in the U.S., and ranked the real estate group in the top tier in more states than any other firm in the U.S.
DLA Piper’s U.S. real estate platform includes more than 250 lawyers situated in major real estate markets from coast to coast. The group includes recognized practitioners in Boston, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Additionally, the firm offers clients global access to the world’s largest real estate practice, with offices in the UK, continental Europe, and Asia.
About the Lawyers
Stephen A. Cowan has nearly 34 years of experience in a wide variety of commercial real estate transactions, including real estate acquisitions, dispositions, finance, bankruptcy, workouts, fund formations, joint ventures, REIT transactions, capital market transactions, credit bond transactions, construction and permanent loans, agricultural and timber finance and development, non-real estate single and multi-lender revolving credit and term loan agreements, and restructuring of U.S. real estate portfolios with complex inter-creditor issues and configuration of bankruptcy remote vehicles. He is a frequent lecturer and author in the field of real estate and bankruptcy matters. Mr. Cowan was selected by the San Francisco Recorder as one of the top five real estate lawyers in the San Francisco Bay Area and as a Northern California Super Lawyer as the result of a joint research project conducted by Law & Politics and San Francisco magazines. He was also acknowledged by the International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers as one of the top 15 real estate lawyers in the world, and by the Legal Media Group’s Expert Guides’ Best of the Best Series, as one of the 25 best real estate lawyers in the world. Mr. Cowan has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America every year since the beginning of the list in 1983. He is also listed in PLC’s Global Counsel Handbook of Corporate Real Estate.
Charles L. Edwards is Senior Counsel in the practice group. He concentrates his practice exclusively in the area of complex commercial real estate transactions. Mr. Edwards is listed under Illinois Real Estate Lawyers in the current edition of The Best Lawyers in America and Who’s Who Legal: The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers. In Chamber’s USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers, he is listed as a Senior Statesman in real estate. In 2005, he was designated among the Top 100 Super Lawyers in the state of Illinois in the first ever survey of Illinois lawyers conducted by the Super Lawyers rankings, a research project originating with Law & Politics and Chicago magazines. He was also recently appointed to serve as a Curley Fellow and Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School for the 2005-06 academic year. In addition to his new appointment, Mr. Edwards has a continuing role as real estate law advisor to various programs at the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School.
Jay A. Epstien is the Chair of the U.S. Real Estate practice group. He represents local and national owners, developers, and users in all aspects of real estate transactions involving urban office buildings, shopping centers, and multifamily residential projects. Mr. Epstien has been the lead lawyer on many of the largest downtown office leases in Washington, D.C. He represents both landlords and tenants, including numerous law firms that have sought his counsel. In addition to representing numerous shopping center developers, Mr. Epstien represented Target on its development activities in the Mid-Atlantic region, which involved the acquisition of more than 20 sites for construction of free-standing facilities. Based on peer and client reviews, Mr. Epstien was selected as the Top Real Estate Lawyer in Washington, D.C. by both the Washington Business Journal and Chambers and Partners, a respected English research firm. In addition, Chambers named Mr. Epstien as one of only two “star” real estate lawyers in the United States. Mr. Epstien also is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, An International Who’s Who of Real Estate Lawyers, and PLC’s Global Counsel Handbook of Corporate Real Estate. Most recently, he was listed in the 2005 Who’s Who Legal: The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers.
Robert H. Goldman concentrates his law practice in real estate development, leasing, syndication, federal and state housing programs and zoning. He has represented clients, including lenders, investors, developers, and contractors for over 25 years in HUD-insured, FNMA, and other state and federal assisted financing and has been extensively involved in low-income housing finance, tax credit, and securitized transactions. He has been closely involved with ELIHPA and LIHPRHA transactions since the enactment of these new statutes and has been involved with for-profit and nonprofit owners in the negotiation, structuring, and closing of such projects. Most recently he was listed in the 2005 Who’s Who Legal: The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers.
Howard E. Kane concentrates his practice in retail, commercial, mixed use, office, and industrial real estate. He has had major responsibility for the legal work in the development of numerous mixed use downtown urban developments, regional shopping centers, and industrial parks. The Leading Lawyers Network lists him as a leading lawyer in Illinois. Most recently, he was listed in the 2005 Who’s Who Legal: The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers.
Frederick L. Klein practices in all areas of commercial real estate law. He represents construction and permanent lenders, life insurance companies, and off-shore, local, and national developers on transactions, development projects, and complex real estate finance. Among Mr. Klein’s clients are owners and developers of office, multifamily, and retail projects; German and Dutch investors in both debt and equity transactions in the U.S.; and owners of Washington, D.C. commercial property in challenges of commercial real estate tax assessments. The respected English legal published Chambers listed him as one of America’s leading real estate lawyers. Most recently, he was listed in the 2005 Who’s Who Legal: The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers.
Michael E. Meyer is the managing partner of the firm’s downtown Los Angeles office. He is regarded as one of the preeminent leasing attorneys in the U.S., regularly representing many of this country’s leading financial institutions, accounting firms, and law firms, as well as major corporations, in major lease transactions throughout the country. The Daily Journal Extra has placed him on its list of the 100 most influential lawyers in California; the Los Angeles Business Journal called him one of the 25 most powerful lawyers in California; and he has been named the Corporate Real Estate Network’s Man of the Year. Chambers USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers ranked him in the first tier of real estate lawyers in California, and he was the only real estate lawyer named to the list of Southern California’s Top Ten Super Lawyers. Most recently, he was listed in the 2005 Who’s Who Legal: The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers.
Portia Owen Morrison concentrates her practice in all aspects of commercial real estate development and finance, representing developers, investors, and lenders in multi-family, office, retail, hotel and industrial development and redevelopment projects. She has been named one of America’s leading real estate lawyers by Chambers USA and is listed in An International Who’s Who of Real Estate Lawyers and Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Real Estate Lawyers. Ms. Morrison is also cited as a Leading Lawyer in Illinois by the Leading Lawyers Network. She is president-elect of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers. In 2005, she was designated among the Top 100 Super Lawyers in the state of Illinois, and one of the state’s Top 50 Female Super Lawyers, in the first ever survey of Illinois lawyers conducted by the Super Lawyers rankings, a research project originating with Law & Politics magazine. Most recently, she was listed in the 2005 Who’s Who Legal: The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers.
Martin D. Polevoy is the head of the practice group in New York. His practice includes all areas of real estate, including acquisitions and dispositions, development, leasing, financing, joint ventures, construction contracts, restructuring and workouts. He represents many well-known national and international owners, developers, investors, and financial institutions, as well as European investors, in both debt and equity transactions in the United States. Mr. Polevoy has been recognized as a leading real estate practitioner in many prominent surveys. The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers has named Mr. Polevoy as one of the 15 leading real estate lawyers in the world. He is also named in the Guide to the World’s Leading Real Estate Lawyers as an expert in real estate law, and Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, published by Chambers Partners, the respected English research firm, cites Mr. Polevoy as a leading lawyer in real estate.
Harold B. Pomerantz concentrates his practice in complex commercial real estate transactions, including acquisitions and dispositions of real estate assets; commercial financing; development; and commercial leasing transactions. Mr. Pomerantz is cited as one of America’s leading real estate attorneys in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. He is also recognized in An International Who’s Who of Real Estate Lawyers and as a Leading Lawyer in Illinois by the Leading Lawyers Network. In 2005, Mr. Pomerantz was designated a Super Lawyer in the first ever survey of Illinois lawyers conducted by the Super Lawyers rankings, a research project originating with Law & Politics magazine; and he was selected to be included in the 2006 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Most recently, he was listed in the 2005 Who’s Who Legal: The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers.
Elliot M. Surkin is the managing partner of the Boston office. He concentrates his practice on real estate development, finance, and taxation. Mr. Surkin has acted as general counsel to the developers and owners of many of the most significant office, mixed use, and retail projects in the greater Boston area. He is general counsel to the Fan Pier Project and North Point Project, the two largest multi-use projects being developed in Metropolitan Boston. He is a member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and the American Law Institute. Chambers and Partners, a respected English publisher, cites Mr. Surkin as one of America’s leading real estate lawyers, and he has been named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer for 2005. Mr. Surkin has also been elected to the 2005 Who’s Who Legal: The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers.
David Taylor is Joint Global Leader of the Real Estate practice group and is head of the Real Estate group in the UK, Europe and Asia. David has experience in all aspects of real estate-driven transactions. These include: development and urban regeneration; the sale and purchase of investment properties including the use of financing structures and asset control structures (such as limited partnerships, unit trusts and off-balance sheet joint ventures); property finance (including term sheets and loan agreements); property tax (in particular, stamp duty and stamp duty land tax) and the management of inward investment of foreign capital into UK property. In the public sector he has particular experience in representing government bodies, former statutory undertakers and local authorities in connection with property related issues including PFI, accommodation projects and land development.
Alan Wayte is one of the most respected real estate lawyers in the U.S. and has focused his practice in real estate in Los Angeles for more than 35 years. He principally represents institutional clients, such as insurance companies, pension funds, banks, and REITS, as well as the County of Los Angeles. He also is known for his work on unusual projects, such as acquiring rights of way from railroads for use by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority. Mr. Wayte was president of ACREL in 1994-1995. He has served as chair of the Real Estate Section of the California State Bar and chair of the Real Property Section of the Los Angeles County Bar, and is a member of the Anglo-American Real Property Institute and a Fellow of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys. He is listed in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers and is cited as a Southern California Super Lawyer. In 2004, he was also listed as one of the Top 100 LA County Super Lawyers. Mr. Wayte is also very active in civic affairs. Since 1972, he has served as a member of the board of directors of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, and he is its secretary.
Caryl B. Welborn maintains a national practice involving all types of commercial real estate transactions. She also currently sits on the board of directors of AMB Property Corporation, an industrial REIT with over $6 billion of real estate assets. Ms. Welborn is an author and a frequent lecturer at national real estate conferences and seminars on a wide variety of topics. A long-time member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, she served on its board of governors for many years and as president in 2001. In 2003, Stanford University gave Ms. Welborn the Stanford Associates Outstanding Achievement Award for exceptional volunteer service. She is listed in the International Who’s Who of Real Estate Lawyers. She has been named a Northern California Super Lawyer as the result of a joint research project conducted by Law & Politics and San Francisco magazines. Most recently, in 2005 and 2006, Ms. Welborn was listed in the 2005 Who’s Who Legal: The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers. She was also named in the 2005 Legal Media Group’s Guide to the World’s Leading Real Estate Lawyers.
Pamela L. Westhoff has a broad-based and versatile transactional real estate practice that emphasizes acquisitions, dispositions, commercial leasing, and technology issues affecting real estate. She also has extensive experience in all types of real estate lending transactions, including workouts, restructures, and joint ventures. Los Angeles Magazine has named her a Southern California Super Lawyer for 2004 and for 2005 and cited her as one of the state’s Top 50 Female Super Lawyers. She has also been placed on Real Estate Southern California’s list of most influential women in 2002, 2003, and 2004. She is also listed in Best Lawyers in America, 2005.
About DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US LLP (www.dlapiper.com)
DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US LLP is a business law firm with 21 offices throughout the U.S. Worldwide, DLA Piper has more than 3,000 lawyers and 57 offices across 22 countries, including the UK, Europe, and Asia. The firm has leading practices in commercial, corporate and finance, human resources, litigation, real estate, regulatory and legislative, and technology, media and communications.
