JOSHUA MAHONEY - Key Persons
As an associate in the firm's Compensation & Employment Group, Alex focuses his practice on advising public and private companies on a number of executive compensation and employee benefits matters, including with respect to mergers and acquisitions and initial public offerings. Additionally, Alex assists companies in the design and implementation of equity incentive, nonqualified deferred compensation, and tax-qualified retirement plans, and both companies and executives in the negotiation of executive employment and separation agreements. He also counsels publicly traded companies on reporting and compliance matters involving the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with a focus on executive compensation-related proxy, disclosure, and corporate governance issues.
Alice is a partner in the firm's Tax & Business Planning Group. Alice's practice focuses on a broad range of federal and international tax issues. She advises publicly traded and private companies including real estate investment trusts ("REITs") on business formations, initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, loan agreements, and public and private debt/equity offerings. In addition, she represents individual and corporate clients in structuring business and tax solutions to meet their personalized needs. Alice also practices in the firm's commercial Real Estate Group.
During the summer of 2014, Alice was a Public Interest Law Initiative graduate fellow at The Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights and was sponsored by the Firm. She continues to represent asylum seekers in her pro bono work.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Barack Ferrazzano Partner
Allison, a partner in the Compensation & Employment and Litigation groups, is a versatile employment litigator, trial attorney, and strategic partner with deep experience handling high-profile and "bet-the-company" matters for diverse clients across the country.
Allison's other recent counseling experience has involved serving on a rapid-response COVID-19 (coronavirus) task force, where she supervised a team of nearly 70 attorneys and became particularly knowledgeable about state and local restrictions on commercial activities in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean.
Amy concentrates her practice on commercial real estate, real estate development and related matters with an emphasis on leasing and construction. Her practice includes representation of real estate investment trusts, public and private corporations, national religious organizations, national retail tenants, and individuals in connection with the acquisition, disposition, development, construction, and leasing of office, industrial, retail, mixed-use, hotel, multi-family, residential, and church properties.
Andrea concentrates her practice on bank regulatory and corporate matters. With over 20 years of industry practice, Andrea has extensive experience working on a variety of regulatory and corporate matters, including mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt offerings, regulatory applications, corporate governance, compliance and enforcement matters. Prior to joining the firm, Andrea served as legal counsel to the banking division of the Illinois Office of Banks and Real Estate, now known as the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, where she assisted in drafting regulations and examination guidelines, prosecuted enforcement actions and provided legal analysis of corporate applications.
Andrea has been a frequent speaker and has published numerous articles on regulatory matters affecting financial institutions. Andrea was also a contributing author and editor on The Keys to Banking Law, Second Edition (2017) and Banking Law Essentials, Third Edition (2020).
For more than two decades, Andrew has served as a trusted advisor to numerous large, middle market, and emerging companies, private equity sponsors, entrepreneurs, high-net worth families, and executives. With a deep understanding of their businesses and objectives, Andrew works closely with each of his clients to achieve their strategic and operational goals, while taking a practical, client-focused approach.
Audra concentrates her practice on commercial real estate transactions, including the acquisition, disposition, financing, leasing, and managing of real estate assets. She also has experience preparing loan documents for loan transactions, forming limited liability companies and corporations for clients, and reviewing and drafting a wide variety of agreements for corporate clients.
Job Titles:
- Legal Advisor
- Names New Chief Marketing Officer
Barack Ferrazzano is #1 Nationwide M&A Legal Advisor for Banks
Barack Ferrazzano is not structured to be all things to all clients. However, the high levels of internal flexibility and extraordinary talent within our organization allow us to craft unusually practical and economical solutions to match client challenges and needs. This business-oriented approach has led many clients to engage Barack Ferrazzano to handle complex, time-sensitive, and high-stakes matters. Our reputation is based on our people and the results they achieve. The attorneys we select - many from the country's most renowned law firms and top U.S. law schools - leverage the environment we have created to become some of the finest lawyers available today.
Job Titles:
- Estate Group Welcomes New Partner
Bill has extensive experience advising clients on major corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, private equity transactions and securities offerings. He also regularly advises the firm's public company clients with respect to the federal securities laws and corporate governance matters, including Exchange Act reporting, ESG matters and shareholder activism. His clients engage in a wide variety of industries, including banking, consumer products, luxury goods, mortgage origination and mortgage servicing, healthcare and technology.
Bill also serves as Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, where he teaches "Business Planning."
Prior to joining Barack Ferrazzano in 2015, Bill practiced in the Chicago office of Sidley Austin LLP as a member of the Corporate and Securities group.
Brad concentrates his practice on commercial real estate transactions and private equity, including the acquisition, financing, leasing, and managing of real estate assets, as well as fund formation and syndication. He also has experience representing landlords and tenants on drafting, reviewing, and negotiating commercial lease agreements.
Prior to joining Barack Ferrazzano, Brad was counsel in the Minneapolis office of Lathrop GPM LLP where he represented developers on multiple tax laws on various developments, including tax credit transactions, apartment syndicators, private equity funds and real estate holding companies.
Brandon represents numerous clients in a wide range of industries throughout the U.S., with a focus on counseling manufacturers in distribution-related disputes. He has significant experience working with automotive and powersports vehicle manufacturers to address issues that arise in their dealer networks. Regardless of the industry, he seeks to obtain the best possible result to advance his clients' business interests.
In addition to his work with manufacturing clients, Brandon also advises other corporate, banking, and real estate companies on a variety of commercial litigation matters. He has litigated numerous cases in federal and state courts and state agencies throughout the U.S. His time in Procter & Gamble's Finance & Accounting division - prior to his legal career - gives him a business perspective that clients don't often find from outside counsel.
Brandon is an associate in the Firm's Corporate & Securities Group. He represents U.S. and multinational companies in a range of transactional matters including domestic and cross-border investments, mergers and acquisitions, financing matters, and general corporate governance matters.
Before joining the Firm, Brandon represented private equity firms and public companies in connection with various financing and merger and acquisition transactions at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Prior to law school, Brandon was an Audit Senior Assistant at Deloitte & Touche LLP.
Brett concentrates his practice on commercial real estate transactions. Brett's real estate practice contains significant involvement with publicly traded real estate investment trusts (REITs), investment advisors, and institutional lenders. His practice places particular emphasis on the acquisition, development and disposition of office, industrial, retail, and multi-family assets, sale-leaseback transactions, tax-free exchanges, build-to-suit projects and leasing of commercial projects. He also has significant experience with the formation of joint ventures that combine developers and other real estate professionals with institutional partners.
Bryan has practiced in the area of real estate and real estate finance law for over 25 years and routinely counsels owners, investors, lenders and REITs in all aspects of commercial real estate transactions. Among his clients are banks and financial institutions, private equity funds, pension funds, investors, investment funds and corporations.
Bryan's experience covers a broad range of highly-complex commercial real estate transactions, including the acquisition and sale of commercial property and portfolios, representing both borrowers and lenders in connection with mortgage, mezzanine and construction financings, and the structuring of preferred equity and other joint venture transactions, all of which span a wide variety of real estate asset classes such as multi-family, residential, office, industrial, retail and hotels.
As an associate in the Firm's Litigation group, Carmel concentrates her practice on a wide range of complex litigation matters. Carmel has represented clients in a variety of state and federal court lawsuits, including class actions, multidistrict litigations, and appellate briefing. She has worked on cases involving health care regulatory compliance, ERISA fiduciary responsibilities, anti-money laundering and consumer fraud, products liability, breach of contract, and trade secrets claims. Carmel also has experience representing clients in both internal investigations and government investigations brought by enforcement agencies such as the DOJ, SEC, and FTC.
Prior to joining the Firm, Carmel worked for a large law firm in Chicago. She also gained experience as a judicial clerk for the United States District Court for the District of Arizona where she drafted orders for pre-trial and dispositive motions filed in civil cases, ranging from employment discrimination to insurance coverage disputes to telecommunications law.
Carrie is a litigator in the Litigation, Insurance, and Motor Vehicle Groups who represents a diverse group of businesses, from manufacturers and distributors to publicly traded and privately held corporations to financial institutions, in state and federal court in business torts, product liability, health care disputes, corporate governance matters, trade secret and unfair competition claims, insurance recovery, and employment litigation.
Carrie has an established record of success for numerous clients. In the last few years alone, she has:
Represented Tier 1 supplier in litigation over long-term supply agreement with Tier 2 supplier, resulting in favorable settlement, with long-term business priorities being secured
Second chair in defending an OEM in an alleged dealer franchise violation for $100+ million that resulted in a dismissal of all claims
Represented manufacturer-insured and won multi-million dollar summary judgment in a duty to defend case against an insurer
Represented beverage company in defeating contract-related claims for hundreds of millions of dollars in an international arbitration with a week-long evidentiary hearing
Represented Audi of America in litigation involving a large, multi-faceted dealership asset and real estate buy-sell transaction, including a preliminary injunctions preserving Audi's right of first refusal, won summary judgment on the buyer's tortious interference claims
Prior to BFKN, Carrie was a litigator at a large international law firm focusing on products liability.
Chuck Picton is a partner in the Firm's Real Estate Group. His practice focuses primarily on finance, acquisition, disposition, and leasing matters. His clients include publicly-traded and privately held real estate operating companies and investment firms, opportunity funds, investment managers, REITs, and developers engaged in all aspects of real estate investment, operation, and development.
Chuck has represented borrowers in connection with a multitude of real estate-based finance transactions, including mortgage, mezzanine, and construction loans originated by domestic and foreign life companies, balance sheet lenders (stand-alone and syndicate), and CMBS originators. In addition, he regularly represents both purchasers and sellers of real estate assets. While Chuck works extensively in the retail sector, he also has broad experience with transactions involving office, multifamily, industrial, and hospitality properties located throughout the United States.
Prior to rejoining the Firm in 2012, Chuck was Vice President and Senior Associate General Counsel at General Growth Properties (GGP), where he headed the Capital Markets legal practice group. Chuck represented GGP in connection with dozens of mortgage and mezzanine loans, with average loan proceeds in excess of $100 million and total proceeds exceeding $10 billion. During his 6-year tenure at GGP, through a unique cross-departmental experience, Chuck gained an in-depth understanding of the retail industry, handling not only property and corporate-level financings, but also new developments, redevelopments, acquisitions, dispositions, anchor transactions, joint venture transactions, and big-box and theater leases. During GGP's bankruptcy, Chuck played an integral role in the negotiation and documentation of the consensual restructuring of nearly $15 billion of secured debt. Chuck's in-house experience at GGP provided invaluable insight into the client-side of business operations that is essential to aligning complex real estate transactions with the desired business goals of his clients.
Chuck concentrates his practice on general corporate and securities matters. His general business practice has given him significant experience in corporate governance, contract negotiations, public tender offers, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, public offerings and private placements. He has served as a director of two publicly traded corporations including serving as Chairman of the Audit Committee and Chairman of the Compensation Committee for both entities. His experience in representing these two companies includes providing advice in a going-private transaction as well as responding and negotiating with the initiator of an unsolicited tender offer.
Chris concentrates her practice area in commercial real estate, corporate finance, real estate financing, commercial and retail leasing and related matters. Her practice covers a range of complex commercial real estate and secured lending transactions, including acquisitions and dispositions, commercial loan transactions, including multi-jurisdictional secured financings, portfolio financings, work-outs and restructurings, and leasing of hotel, office, industrial, retail and mixed-use properties. Chris's practice includes significant experience with publicly traded real estate investment trusts (REITs).
Cindy concentrates on transactional, regulatory and securities matters for financial institutions and financial institution holding companies.
Cindy's extensive experience in the banking area includes assisting with all aspects of de novo bank and holding company formations, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory and securities filings and due diligence reviews. Her experience also includes general corporate matters such as the preparation of annual and special meeting materials for public and private holding companies and financial institutions. She assists with SEC periodic reporting for the firm's publicly held financial institutions. In addition, she has experience in researching federal and state securities matters.
Cindy is a speaker at bank trade association meetings and a guest lecturer at bank regulation classes at law schools. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the University of Phoenix and her Paralegal Certificate from William Rainey Harper College. She has worked in the banking area with members of the firm's financial institutions group since 1989.
L Catterton Real Estate Partners with Carbonleo to Launch Royalmount Project in Montreal
Lloyd, better known as "Buddy," is head of the Firm's Waco office and a member of the Firm's Motor Vehicle and Litigation Groups.
Robert concentrates on multistate complex real estate transactions. His experience encompasses all aspects of the acquisition, development and disposition of vacant land, commercial, mixed-use and industrial properties, including the review and analysis of contracts, title and survey documents, leases, and correspondence regarding transaction specific terms and conditions, as well as the examination of due diligence materials and preparation and review of closing documents. He also has experience assisting in loan transactions involving commercial properties, including due diligence reviews and review of loan title commitments, as well as, the management of residential real estate transactions. His experience includes more than 6 years as a Commercial Real Estate Paralegal in both small and large Chicago law firms.
Robert earned a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia College Chicago and a Paralegal Certificate from Loyola University Chicago (ABA approved program). He is a long-time member of the Illinois Paralegal Association.
For nearly a decade, Bob has concentrated his practice on mergers and acquisitions, strategic business planning, contractual matters and negotiation, and general corporate matters. He has counseled clients in a wide range of industries, including insurance, hospitality, luxury and retail, manufacturing, supply chain, and technology, creating innovative solutions to help grow and strengthen their businesses.