Jones Day Welcomes Real Estate Finance Partners

CHICAGO, Aug. 4 -- The global law firm Jones Day today announced that John Rafkin and David Woods have joined the Chicago Office as part of the Firm's real estate finance practice. Both were formerly partners at Sidley Austin LLP in Chicago.
 
"We're very excited to add John and Dave to our already robust real estate finance practice," said Tina M. Tabacchi, Partner-in-Charge of Jones Day's Chicago Office. "Our many financial institution clients in Chicago and around the world will welcome their deep and broad-based practices."
 
Mr. Rafkin, who will be a partner in Jones Day's Real Estate Practice, brings more than 25 years of experience to Jones Day. He represents individual lenders, bank groups, and borrowers in single and multi-asset financings of commercial real estate, including construction and acquisition financing; term, revolver, and letter of credit financing; CMBS financing; Shariah-compliant financing; loan-on-loan financing; and mezzanine, A/B and preferred equity forms of subordinated financing. Mr. Rafkin is experienced with all types of real estate, including office, retail, student housing, senior housing, multifamily, and industrial, and has particularly deep experience with hospitality financing. A graduate of Northwestern University School of Law (J.D. cum laude, Order of the Coif) and Harvard University, (A.B. cum laude), he also has extensive experience in the workout of troubled real estate loans.
 
Mr. Woods, who will be a partner in the Firm's Banking & Finance Practice, has 10 years of experience in corporate and institutional real estate financing, including numerous hospitality and construction industry loans. In addition to his real estate finance experience, Mr. Woods is experienced in commercial leasing, acquisitions and dispositions, and sale-leasebacks, and has handled the sale, leasing, and financing of cellular towers and real property owned, leased, and financed by not-for-profit entities, including not-for-profit lenders and secondary education institutions. A graduate of the University of Illinois (College of Law, J.D. magna cum laude, Order of the Coif; B.S. summa cum laude, Bronze Tablet), Mr. Woods has written extensively on real estate finance issues and was an editor of the University of Illinois Law Review.
 
"We believe that many real estate lenders benefit greatly from an integrated, comprehensive, and multidisciplinary approach to financings, workouts, and restructurings," said Bob Lee, a Chicago-based leader of Jones Day's global Real Estate Practice. "We've institutionalized that in our global real estate finance team, and we know that John and Dave will make an important contribution to that effort."
 
"John and Dave have been on both the borrower and lender sides of a wide range of sophisticated transactions," said Bob Graves, a Chicago-based leader of the Firm's global Banking & Finance Practice. "We're very pleased that they've chosen to join our global real estate finance team."
 
Jones Day is a global law firm with 42 offices in major centers of business and finance throughout the world. Its unique governance system fosters an unparalleled level of integration and contributes to its perennial ranking as among the best in the world in client service. Jones Day provides significant legal representation for almost half of the Fortune 500, Fortune Global 500, and FT Global 500.