Overview

Jim believes that fostering and maintaining strong relationships with clients, and in some cases their counterparties, can be critical to the parties’ ability to realize their strategic and operational goals. Jim’s dual focus on corporate and securities and real estate matters allows him to bring a unique perspective to both and positions him well to provide business-focused solutions to his real estate clients.

Jim is the chair of BFKN’s Corporate & Securities Group. While Jim’s primary focus is in mergers and acquisitions, he is often relied upon by his clients, some of whom he has represented for nearly 20 years, to provide advice on more general legal matters that may arise between transactions. Jim has assisted his clients with general corporate and formation matters, negotiation and implementation of partnership and joint venture relationships, securities reporting, public offerings and private placements of debt and equity securities, and general corporate contracting. Jim also serves in a general counsel capacity for a number of his clients and is often the first point of contact regarding any of their legal issues.

Jim’s flexibility and ability to pivot and adapt were put to the test a decade ago when a pair of his corporate clients operating in the real estate industry asked Jim to expand his role and assist with their traditional real estate transactions. In the years since, Jim has focused approximately half of his time on real estate matters. Jim has assisted his clients, primarily owners and landlords of industrial, senior housing, and cannabis facilities, with the acquisition and disposition of real property, the negotiation of leases and other management or operating arrangements, the formation and implementation of joint ventures and other partnerships, and the navigation of REIT rules and restrictions.

Credentials

Admissions

  • State of Illinois

Education

  • University of Michigan Law School, J.D., cum laude, 2002
  • Ohio State University, B.A., 1999

Experience

  • Served as primary counsel to Ventas in connection with its $380 million acquisition of Lillibridge Healthcare Services, Inc. and its related entities, and real estate interests in 95 medical office buildings.
  • Represented Hub International Limited and its affiliates in more than 80 acquisitions of insurance agencies through a combination of asset and share acquisitions.
  • Served as primary counsel to NYSE-listed industrial REIT with respect to several public offerings utilizing diverse structures, including a 12.5 million share of common stock ($65.6 million) firm commitment underwriting, various "bought deal" underwritten offerings of an aggregate of over 35.1 million shares of common stock for gross proceeds of over $450 million, continuous “at-the-market” programs offering up to 10 million shares, 12.5 million shares and 13.3 million shares of common stock, respectively, and direct stock sales of up to 5 million shares pursuant to a dividend reinvest
  • Served as primary counsel to Ventas, Inc., an S&P 500 company and one of the largest healthcare REITs in the U.S., in connection with the acquisition of the outstanding shares of Senior Care, Inc.
  • Served as primary counsel to First Industrial in connection with its cash tender offers for $160 million and $87 million, respectively, in aggregate principal amount of notes utilizing a "waterfall" structure to prioritize accepted tenders.
  • Served as primary counsel to Ventas in connection with its $186 million acquisition of real estate interests in 58 senior living communities from Sunrise Senior Living.
  • Served as primary counsel to First Industrial in connection with the negotiation of its $625 million unsecured revolving credit facility, $200 million unsecured term loan facility and $260 million unsecured term loan facility.
  • Represented Invesque Inc. (TSX: IVQ.U), a healthcare real estate company serving the U.S. and Canada, in its acquisition of a number of senior living properties and Commonwealth Senior Living, LLC. 
  • Represented The Shidler Group in connection with the formation of a new public west coast-focused office properties REIT in a "reverse merger" transaction involving the contribution of The Shidler Group's western U.S. office building portfolio to a newly created operating partnership subsidiary of Pacific Office Properties Trust and the assumption of indebtedness in excess of $750 million.

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