Profile

Lou Strawn has more than 30 years broad-based, in-depth experience in virtually all aspects of commercial real estate law. Lou is experienced in acquisitions and dispositions of all property types, joint venture and real estate restructuring and workouts involving combinations of debt and equity interests, portfolio and construction lending workouts, real estate asset-based pension account and fund investment as well as complex real estate-related litigation management.

Lou enjoyed a distinguished 26 year career with Prudential Financial which began in Houston, Texas in 1974 representing Prudential in all transactional aspects of its commercial real estate operations, including asset management, leasing, mortgage loan origination (both construction and permanent lending), acquisition, dispositions and development of significant landmark Houston properties through joint ventures.

After working throughout the United States in most commercial markets including New Jersey/New York, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Houston and Dallas, Lou served as Chief Legal Officer for Prudential's Commercial Real Estate Operations worldwide, from 1996 through 1999.

As Chief Legal Officer, Real Estate Operations, he headed the legal function for all global real estate businesses, with assets totaling in excess of $45 billion dollars. He had overall responsibility for direct real estate equity investments, direct and indirect pension advisory and real estate fund businesses, as well as asset management and direct development operations. Lou also headed the mortgage loan origination legal function that completed average annual originations of over $6 billion dollars from 1996 to 1999.

Unique Lawyer Experience

Lou is co-chair of the Investment Section of the Association of Life Insurance Council and is a frequent speaker and panelist on the current credit crisis relating to commercial real estate and structured real estate finance workouts. (Speaker at the Mortgage Lending Institute sponsored by the Texas Bar Association and the University of Texas; speaker at Houston Legal Foundation).

Co-editor of ToughTimesforLenders.com, a legal blog that provides news, information and commentary on important issues affecting troubled or problem commercial assets in the financial services industry.

Representative Experience

• Commercial real estate workouts and restructurings
• Insurance company and bank commercial real estate finance and capital market real estate finance
• Commercial property acquisitions and dispositions
• Construction/permanent lending
• Real estate litigation management
• Development/partnership structures
• Real estate fund origination and oversight
• Representation of regulated lenders, pension funds and advisors, banks, life insurance companies, finance companies, equity and mortgage REITs in the full range of debt and equity structures, products and property types, including structured leases, mezzanine debt, subdivision development, construction and mini-perm financing, portfolio acquisitions and conduit lending, loan participations and syndications, cash-flow and equity participations, and commercial loan servicing (including special servicing)