Title: Partner
Company: Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP
Length of FEI sponsorship: New Sponsor
FEI leadership involvement: Current member of the board of directors
Work email: [email protected]
Work phone number: 410-332-8651
Tell us a little bit about your career, educational/professional background and how you got to where you are today.
I have known since I was about nine years old that I would go into the field of law after watching a documentary on Brown vs. Board of Education. After being exposed to a mergers and acquisitions course and a couple of other transactional courses in law school, I became interested in being a corporate attorney and that interest was solidified after my summer clerkship at Saul Ewing.
As a corporate attorney, I assist clients with problem-solving and transforming their business. Clients in the business world rely on me to provide advice on matters ranging from mergers and acquisitions to commercial finance and private offerings of debts and equity securities to REIT and corporate governance. I also serve as general outside counsel to many private companies, providing day-to-day counseling, corporate governance and contracts advice. In this capacity, I often provide advice on formation, operation and governance of corporations, limited liability companies and partnerships.
My merger and acquisition work includes the representation of both buyers and sellers in mergers and asset and stock acquisitions. In commercial finance matters, I have handled secured- and asset-based lending transactions and unsecured lending transactions by assisting with the drafting, negotiation and structuring of commercial loans. I also represent a number of publicly traded Real Estate Investment Trusts and advise them on initial public offerings, follow-on debt and equity offering transactions, finance transactions and REIT governance matters. I often act as Maryland REIT counsel in these transactions. In addition, I have represented companies raising private equity and venture capital funding, whether through debt or equity transactions and represented private equity and venture capital firms in connection with the issuance of mezzanine financing.
Have you ever done anything out of the ordinary to apply for and/or get a job?
I attended Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, which did not have many, if any, campus interviews from law firms in Maryland. Our law school did, however, have a program whereby you could submit resumes to law firms in Washington D.C. for interviews. I submitted resumes and received interviews with some of the participating firms in D.C. I knew by that time that I wanted to move back to the East Coast, so I also reached out to several Baltimore law firms with my resume and let them know that I would be in the area and would welcome the opportunity for an interview. Saul Ewing was one of the Baltimore firms that I was able to get an interview with and I have been with the firm since 2006.
What is one piece of information you wish someone had told you when you first started your career?
There is no particular major that is required for you to go to law school. At the time, I thought it was best to major in political science or other similar liberal arts major before heading to law school. While I enjoyed my political science courses, I have since learned that it was definitely not required. Having the ability to think critically about matters is the only pre-requisite. I actually think a STEM major is likely a better major prior to heading into law school so that you don’t have to unlearn all of the ways in which some liberal arts majors teach you to write when you attend law school.
What are some activities you participate in to advance the profession or your career?
I’m currently a Fellow in the American Bar Association Business Law Fellows Program. I’m also a member of the Maryland Chapter of the Association of Corporate Growth, the Business Section Council of the Maryland State Bar Association, and several boards including the Homeless Persons Representation Project, the Central Maryland Chapter of the American Red Cross, Emerging Technology Centers, Maryland Business Incubation Association, and Modell-Lyric Performing Arts Center. In addition, I’m chair of the Uniform Commercial Code Committee of the Business Section of the Maryland State Bar Association.
I am looking forward to joining the Baltimore Chapter of FEI and its board.
What are some of your personal hobbies outside of work?
I love movies, especially action and sci-fi movies, dancing and having fun with my two-year-old.