Peter J. Korda and Andrew M. Pearlstein Named Co-Chairs of Seyfarth Shaw's Structured and Real Estate Finance Practice Group

CHICAGO (Business Wire EON) March 10, 2008 -- Seyfarth Shaw's SREF attorneys represent lenders across a broad spectrum of real estate finance transactions. They structure and negotiate loans and other credit facilities, handle loan administration and servicing issues, and through the firm's Distressed Asset Resolution Team (DART), represent the interests of clients in loan defaults, workouts, foreclosures, and borrower bankruptcies. SREF attorneys are located in the firm's offices across the country. Operating as a national, integrated team, SREF attorneys draw upon the team members' broad real estate finance backgrounds and practical regional knowledge to provide cutting-edge legal services.

"Seyfarth Shaw has been increasing its Real Estate Practice Group over the past several months to meet the demand from our clients in commercial real estate markets across the country," said Mark A. Block, Chair of the Real Estate Practice Group. "Andrew and Peter are highly skilled attorneys with exceptional experience in structured loans who can lead our SREF team to focus on the finance piece of our practice in order to maximize our clients' opportunities in the commercial real estate market, while at the same time mitigating the risks of our clients' exposure during periods of uncertainty."

Korda is a partner in Seyfarth Shaw's New York office. His practice concentrates on representing members of the lending community on real estate finance matters, workouts and restructured transactions. In recent years, Korda's work has emphasized the structuring and closing of mortgage loan transactions for securitization in the capital markets, as well as conventional acquisition, permanent, interim/bridge, construction and mezzanine loan transactions. Korda has extensive experience in real estate projects across the United States, including handling multi-tier, multi-state, cross-defaulted and cross-collateralized transactions. He has closed numerous fee and leasehold financings and refinancings of major residential developments, shopping centers, office buildings, hotels and specialty projects. Korda has also worked extensively in structuring and closing syndicated transactions, equity participation loans and complex construction "take-out" transactions, as well as the financing and development of condominium and cooperative properties.

"I'm privileged and honored to help lead our firm's talented professionals who collectively and as individuals have a vast knowledge of the structured and real estate finance products available to our clients," said Korda.

Pearlstein is a partner in Seyfarth Shaw's Boston office, concentrating his practice in the representation of banks, financial institutions, businesses, real estate owners and developers involved in complex commercial real estate and financial transactions involving multi-family, hotel, shopping center, retail, office and industrial properties. His areas of emphasis include: representing conduit lenders in commercial real estate financings on a nationwide basis in connection with securitized loan programs; representing financial institutions (including investment banks, hedge funds, banks and insurance companies) in construction, bridge, and permanent financings, mezzanine and A/B tiered structures, leasehold financings, capital markets loans, preferred equity structures, participations and syndicated facilities, acquisition and disposition of loans (collateralized or unsecured), and other structured finance transactions; representing financial institutions, special servicers and other entities in the restructuring, work out and foreclosure of real estate loans; representing individuals, corporations and other entities in all aspects of the development or rehabilitation of real estate and condominium projects (including zoning, permitting, environmental and title matters); representing landlords and tenants in commercial lease transactions involving all types of real estate; providing counsel to condominium associations in all aspects of condominium law; and representing sellers and buyers in connection with the acquisition and disposition of all types of commercial real estate, including 1031 exchanges.

"Our clients know that they can turn to Seyfarth Shaw's national team of top structured and real estate finance attorneys to advance their business goals in an effective and practical manner," said Pearlstein.

SREF attorneys' knowledge of the lending and capital markets, industry trends, and lending principles enhances the team's ability to assist clients with their real estate finance issues. When structuring transactions and drafting loan documentation, the team's collective background positions SREF attorneys to meet the needs of the group's clients, mitigate their potential risks, and augment their customer relationships.

Seyfarth Shaw is a full-service law firm with over 750 attorneys located in nine offices throughout the United States including Chicago, New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento, as well as Brussels, Belgium. The firm provides a broad range of legal services in the areas of labor and employment, employee benefits, litigation and business services. Seyfarth Shaw's practice reflects virtually every industry and segment of the country's business and social fabric. Clients include over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, newspapers and other media, hotels, health care organizations, airlines and railroads. The firm also represents a number of federal, state, and local governmental and educational entities. For more information, please visit www.seyfarth.com.