At a Glance

Lori focuses her practice on real estate and business law. She represents buyers and sellers in the acquisition, disposition and development of shopping centers. In addition, she represents shopping center developers and other commercial property owners with respect to borrowing and refinancing transactions. Lori has conducted due diligence analysis on hundreds of properties and has significant experience in recognizing and resolving title problems. She is experienced in representing shopping center landlords on leasing matters.  Lori also has business experience on the tenant side as the former Real Estate Manager for Dairy Mart Convenience Stores, a 700+ store retail chain operating in seven Midwest states. While at Dairy Mart, she played a key role in managing the real estate portfolio through Dairy Mart's Chapter 11 bankruptcy, including the securitization of the company's debtor-in-possession financing and the divestiture of approximately 700 properties (100 of which were sold to third parties or rejected in bankruptcy and 600 of which were sold to Mac's Convenience Stores, LLC, a subsidiary of Alimentation Couche Tard for over $88 million). Lori managed Dairy Mart's licensing function, including liquor licenses.
 

Practices/Industries
Business
Banking & Commercial Finance
Corporate Restructuring & Creditors' Rights
Mergers & Acquisitions

Real Estate
Acquisition & Development
Leasing
Real Estate Finance
Shopping Centers

Areas of Concentration
  • Real Estate Acquisition, Disposition and Development
  • Retail and Commercial Leasing
  • Real Estate Finance
  • Shopping Center Acquisitions, Disposition and Development
  • Liquor Licensing
  • Business Law
Education

Youngstown State University (B.S.B.A., 1997)

University of Akron School of Law, (J.D., 2004)

Representative Experience
  • Real estate counsel to regional automotive service company, as debtor-in-possession,  in the $14 million sale of 80 stores under Section 363 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.
  • Key due diligence role in a real estate joint venture’s purchase of a mall and shopping plaza for $94 million.
  • Representation of private real estate developer in connection with the acquisition and/or refinancing of multi-million dollar shopping centers in Kentucky, Ohio and Minnesota.
  • Key due diligence role in NYSE-listed REIT’s $350 million acquisition of 36 department stores in Arizona, California, Nevada and Texas .
  • Leasing counsel to a REIT’s ground-up lifestyle center development in Virginia.
  • Represented major lifestyle center developer in retail tenant work out issues.
Professional Affiliations
American Bar Association (Member of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section)

Ohio State Bar Association

Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association (Member of Real Estate Section)

Cleveland Real Estate Women (CREW), Cleveland Chapter (Member and President-Elect 2009)

International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Community Involvement

 

Admissions
State of Ohio