Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm serving clients across the Americas, today announced that Anne Marie Garavaglia and Kinan Obeidin have joined Akerman’s Real Estate Finance Practice in Atlanta. Garavaglia and Obeidin join Akerman from Nelson Mullins LLP, where they led practices representing institutional lenders, REITs, and equity partners in the negotiation and closing of complex structured finance transactions. Their additions to the firm bolster the team's strategic expansion in 2019.
“Our real estate finance practice has undergone significant growth this year with a number of notable hires who bring intricate knowledge about finance transactions in the real estate sector,” said Eric Rapkin, chair of Akerman’s Real Estate Practice Group. “Anne Marie and Kinan are exceptional lawyers in their field, bringing many years of experience spearheading complex transactions on behalf of real estate and financial services clients across the country.”
"Anne Marie and Kinan in Atlanta and our recent team members in Jacksonville represent a continuation of our client-driven growth," said Alan Cohen, chair of Akerman's Real Estate Finance Practice. "We are adding broader and deeper experience in complex real estate financings, including in secondary market transactions, loan portfolio management/servicing and loan sales in connection with securitizations. I look forward to what’s ahead for our team."
Cohen, along with Randy Eckers, Michael Estreicher, Samuel Lee, and Alexander (A.J.) Sokoloff, spurred a rapid expansion of the real estate finance practice upon joining Akerman's New York office from Duval & Stachenfeld LLP in early 2019. The specialized group enhanced the firm's real estate strengths, focusing on institutional lending and equity for complex real estate transactions. They represent major financial institutions, mortgage REITs, and investment funds. Since then, the real estate finance team has additionally grown with Beau Baker and Christopher McCranie in Jacksonville, where they advise clients in secondary market portfolio and single asset loan sales and acquisitions, joint venture and preferred equity investments, and commercial real estate capital markets.
Anne Marie Garavaglia
Garavaglia has nearly 25 years of experience in commercial real estate finance and capital markets as both an in-house attorney for Fortune 50 corporations and as a partner in Am Law 100 ranked law firms. She focuses her practice on real estate capital markets, CMBS securitizations, loan repo facilities, structured and commercial finance, loan portfolio management/servicing, loan originations, and financial work-outs and restructuring. She represents traditional institutional lenders, private equity funds, and non-traditional lenders in a variety of finance and commercial real estate transactions including mortgage debt, mezzanine debt, preferred and JV equity and participations. In addition to serving as in-house counsel to several CRE companies and as corporate counsel for the Overseas Partners companies, Garavaglia also has a finance background and served as vice president of JPMorgan Chase Bank's real estate finance and capital markets group.
Kinan Obeidin
Obeidin focuses his practice on real estate finance, real estate capital markets, structured finance, and financial services. He represents banks, life insurance companies, REITs, debt funds, and other traditional and non-traditional lenders in the origination of commercial mortgage loans and a variety of secondary market transactions. Obeidin has extensive experience in originating CMBS, balance sheet, life co and bridge loans, and he serves as loan seller’s counsel for CMBS, SASB and CRE-CLO securitizations. He advises buyers and sellers on warehouse lending facilities and master repurchase and participation arrangements.
About Akerman
Akerman LLP is a top 100 U.S. law firm recognized among the most forward thinking firms in the industry by Financial Times. Its more than 700 lawyers and business professionals collaborate with the world’s most successful enterprises and entrepreneurs to navigate change, seize opportunities, and help drive innovation and growth. Akerman is known for its results in middle market M&A and complex disputes, and for helping clients achieve their most important business objectives in the financial services, real estate and other dynamic sectors across the United States and Latin America.
Akerman’s Real Estate Practice Group offers comprehensive and fully integrated project counsel services to clients across the United States and Latin America. With substantial industry experience and local market insights, the firm represents clients in complex real estate transactions and financings, development and redevelopment projects, public-private initiatives and litigation. Recognized as a national tier one law firm for real estate law by U.S. News - Best Lawyers, the group advises investors, developers, builders, lenders, retailers, owners and corporate end users, often in high profile matters.