Real Estate
Commercial Real Estate
The Firm represents major developers of commercial properties, such as strip shopping centers, malls, lifestyle centers, apartment buildings, office buildings, condominiums, planned unit developments, traditional neighborhood communities, mixed use developments, hotels, medical service facilities, toll bridges, warehouses and undeveloped land. This representation covers the full range of legal services involved in such developments, including negotiation and drafting of purchase and sale contracts and related development and closing documents, obtaining zoning and other governmental development approvals, syndications, title examination and certification, lease negotiations with national and regional tenants, and development of leases, management agreements and other forms utilized in the operation of commercial developments. The Firm represents developers in all forms of secured financing vehicles used in commercial real estate development, including construction and permanent loans, conduit loans, defeasances, mezzanine financing, tax increment financing, and taxable and tax exempt bond financing. The Firm's real estate practice also includes representation in the various aspects of ownership and management of rural land, whether used for timber production, pasture, hunting, recreation or other purposes.
Mortgage & Secured Lending
The Firm represents regional lenders in all forms of secured financing transactions utilizing real property interests as the primary collateral. It also regularly represents lenders and borrowers as Alabama counsel on multi-state transactions originating in New York, Chicago, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago and other money centers. Such local representation consists of determining compliance with local law and rendering opinion letters on compliance, as well as obtaining governmental certificates and orders.
Title Insurance
The Firm issues title policies and is authorized to conduct closings under insured closing letters for Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation, Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company and Old Republic National Title Insurance Company/Mississippi Valley Title Insurance Company.
Bankruptcy
The Firm's bankruptcy, work out and foreclosure practice is, with rare exceptions, limited to representation of creditors in commercial transactions.
Principal Contact for Real Estate and Bankruptcy Matters:
Shapard D. Ashley email (334) 241-8073
