LOS ANGELES – July 6, 2020 – Cozen O’Connor today announced Mitchell Poole, an award-winning California real estate attorney who represents major institutional and other investors in multimillion dollar equity transactions, has joined its national Real Estate practice. Poole, who has for 20-plus years represented general and limited partners investing in national/international real estate funds and joint ventures, joins Cozen O’Connor as a shareholder. He will reside at the firm’s Santa Monica, Calif., office.
Poole’s clients hold equity interests in five-star full-service resorts, office buildings, industrial buildings, multifamily, student and senior housing, and mixed-use projects at all stages of the asset life cycle. Serving both lenders and borrowers, he also handles real estate joint ventures, acquisitions and dispositions, office/data center/warehouse leases, workouts and restructurings, and mortgage and mezzanine financings. He comes to the firm from Sidley Austin LLP, where he was a partner in that firm’s Real Estate practice.
“Mitchell comes to our practice with an impressive and diverse track record, one that includes serving major, highly recognizable national and international clients,” said Jonathan S. Gross, head of Cozen O’Connor’s Santa Monica office and co-chair of its Real Estate practice. “While most firms focus only on real estate finance, our strategy has been to invest in building a full-service national real estate practice because we believe participants in this sector deserve and demand the most sophisticated counsel. Mitchell’s diverse background makes him a perfect fit and I’m excited to welcome him to the firm.”
Having previously earned his MBA, Poole began his career as a real estate finance lawyer and then expanded into structuring/negotiating venture enterprises, ground up construction, and mortgage and mezzanine loans for all real estate product types. He now provides guidance on loan syndication, participation and sales, single asset acquisitions and dispositions, equity interests and portfolio transactions, and represents major landlords and tenants leasing office, data center, warehouse, and industrial buildings.
He also executes workouts and Chapter 11 restructurings of single-asset and multi-property portfolios throughout the United States for developers, public and private pension funds, limited and general partners, U.S. and foreign banks, insurance companies and investment banks.
“As a veteran real estate lawyer, I’ve always admired Cozen O’Connor’s commitment to the industry,” Poole said. “Whether the transaction is relatively modest, or a billion-dollar deal, every client has access to real estate lawyers from all the disciplines necessary for life cycle investing — including related practices like tax, bankruptcy and restructuring, and litigation. Our real estate client interests are fully covered and I’m happy to help expand our national footprint further.”
Poole has twice received the ACLU Foundation of Southern California’s Pro Bono Special Service Award, in 2007 and again in 2013, and has been named a “leading lawyer” in real estate by The Legal 500.
He earned his J.D. and master’s degree in dispute resolution from the Pepperdine University School of Law; his MBA from the University of Colorado Boulder; and his B.A. from Brown University.
About Cozen O’Connor
Established in 1970, Cozen O’Connor has over 825 attorneys who help clients manage risk and make better business decisions. The firm counsels clients on their most sophisticated legal matters in all areas of the law, including litigation, corporate, and regulatory law. Representing a broad array of leading global corporations and middle market companies, Cozen O’Connor serves its clients’ needs through 32 offices across two continents.
# # #