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Everett S. Ward
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Everett S. Ward

Partner

Everett Ward is a partner in the Firm’s Real Estate Group. He represents corporate, commercial, and not-for-profit clients in the acquisition, disposition, financing, and leasing of commercial, industrial, and residential real property, including hotels, industrial properties, mixed-use properties, manufactured housing developments, multifamily developments, senior living facilities, farmland properties, office buildings, and shopping centers. He also represents clients in the formation and financing of real estate joint ventures on both stabilized assets and development projects.

  • Representation of an S&P 500 real estate investment trust (REIT) that is one of the largest publicly traded owners, operators, and developers of multifamily housing in the United States.
  • Representation of a major life insurance company in the sale of a Class A office building in the Chicago, Illinois CBD for a sale price in excess of $250 million.
  • Representation of a syndicate of major life insurance companies in a $640 million multistate loan transaction secured by parking garage facilities.
  • Representation of pension and governmental plan sponsors and plan advisors on a variety of real estate financing transactions.
  • Representation of owners of senior housing facilities (including independent living, assisted living and memory care) in construction loan and term loan financing transactions on properties located throughout the United States.
  • Representation of a major life insurance company on mortgage loan and loan sale transactions ranging in size from $3 million to in excess of $1 billion.
  • Representation of entities in the purchase and sale of farmland in the Midwestern United States.
  • Representation of a joint venture in the acquisition of a portfolio of multifamily housing assets located in the southeastern United States for a purchase price in excess of $130 million.
  • Representation of a university as ground lessor in a ground lease/real estate development transaction.
  • Representation of the seller of a portfolio of mortgage loans for in excess of $900 million.

Everett S. Ward has been recognized annually in The Best Lawyers in America for Real Estate since 2021.

He was named one of the Most Influential Minority Lawyers in Chicago by Crain’s Chicago Business in 2017.

He has been recognized as one of the Leading Lawyers every year since 2008.

He holds a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent™ Peer Review Rating.

He has been selected for Illinois Super Lawyers annually since 2006.

He was featured in Who’s Who in Black Chicago: Chicago’s Counselors at Law in 2006, 2007, and 2010.

He was named a Business Leader of Color by Chicago United in 2015.

  • Author, “Ethics Issues and Conflicts of Interests in the Representation of Title Insurance Companies and Their Insured”, American College of Mortgage Attorneys 39th Annual Meeting, September 25, 2012, Kohler, Wisconsin.
  • Author, “Where Do We Begin? Navigating Pre-Leasing Issues For A Mixed Use Development–The Lender’s Perspective”, American Bar Association, Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law, 25th Anniversary Spring Symposia, Leasing Group, May 1, 2014, Chicago, Illinois.
  • Author, “Tips for Negotiating a Commercial Loan Application”, Westlaw Journal of Bank and Lender Liability, Volume 19, Issue 22, published March 24, 2014.
  • Co-Author (with Edward J. Hannon), “The Proliferation of Real Estate Investment Trusts and How to Deal With Them”, REJournals.com, December 2, 2014.
  • Author, “Borrower Structures–Presentation Outline and Selected Sample Forms”, Commercial Real Estate Financing 2015, Practicing Law Institute.
  • Author, “It’s All About the Money–Leases as Collateral for Mortgage Loans”, ABA/ACREL Intermediate Financing Series (Part 2), April 13, 2016.
  • Co-author (with Rasha Elganzouri Gad), “Emerging Trends in Commercial Mortgage Lending During COVID-19”, May 27, 2020 (Quarles & Brady LLP Real Estate Alert).
  • Co-author (with Andrew Berman and Barry Hines), “Ancillary Agreements in Real Estate Transactions”, American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL) 2017 Spring Meeting, Austin, Texas, March 30-April 1, 2017.
  • Co-author (with Andrew L. Jagoda, James B. Rosenbloom and Adam B. Weissburg), “Intercreditor Issues in the Post Covid World”, American College of Mortgage Attorneys 2020 Annual Meeting, September 9, 2020.
  • Author, “10 for 2021–Loan Document Provisions That (Some) Borrowers and Lenders Are Talking About Now”, Association of Corporate Counsel Real Estate Network Newsletter, May 2021.
  • Author, “Training Junior Real Estate Attorneys”, The Practical Real Estate Lawyer, September 2022.
  • Panelist, American Bar Association, Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law, 1994 Annual Meeting, August 9, 1994, New Orleans, Louisiana (Topic: See related publication above).
  • Panelist, American Bar Association, Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law, Spring CLE & Committee Meeting, May 16, 1996, San Diego, California (Topic: See related publication above).
  • Panelist, American Bar Association, Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law, 1998 Annual Meeting, August 1998, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Topic: In house attorneys supervising outside counsel).
  • Panelist, American Bar Association, Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law, 10th Annual Spring CLE & Committee Meeting, Fifth Annual Mortgage Financing Program, May 21, 1999, Washington, D.C. (Topic: See related publication above).
  • Lecturer on Legal Drafting Issues at a seminar for 1st Year Law Students, sponsored by the Black Women’s Law Association of Chicago (2004, 2005 and 2007).
  • Panelist, American Bar Association, Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law and Section on Taxation, 2007 Joint Fall CLE Meeting, September 28, 2007, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (Program Organizer and Panelist for Joint CLE Program, “The ABCs of REITs”).
  • Panelist, American Bar Association, Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law and the ABA Center for Continuing Legal Education, Webinar (“e-program”), “REITs: Key Topics for Lawyers Who Work With Them and Those Who Might”, March 27, 2008.
  • Panelist, Midwest Real Estate News “Best of the Best, Midwest Capital Markets Conference”, April 30, 2008 (Topic: Tenant-In-Common (TIC) transactions).
  • Panelist, Chicago Bar Association, Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges Program, June 6, 2008 (Topic: “Sub-Prime Lending Meltdown: Have We Reached Bottom Yet?”)
  • Panelist, Real Estate M&A and REIT Transactions 2009, January 15, 2009, Practicing Law Institute, New York, New York (Topic: See related publication above).
  • American Bar Association, Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law, Community Outreach Program for Minority Lawyers, 2009 (Program co-chair and lecturer on various real estate financing topics in an ABA co-sponsored program that teaches real estate law to young minority lawyers).
  • Panelist, 11th Annual Commercial Real Estate Institute, November 2, 2009, Practicing Law Institute, Chicago, Illinois (Topic: Tips for Negotiating a Loan Application).
  • Panelist, Strafford Publications webinar “Due Diligence in Commercial Real Estate Purchase Transactions”, July 14, 2010.
  • Panelist, “Through the Looking Glass: Differing Perspectives on Distressed Real Estate Loans and Workouts”, American College of Mortgage Attorneys 37th Annual Meeting, September 25, 2010, Quebec City, Canada (Related publication: “Quick Tips for Representing Borrowers in Loan Workouts”).
  • Panelist, Real Estate M&A and REIT Transactions 2011, January 13, 2011, Practicing Law Institute, New York, New York (Topic: See related publication above).
  • Panelist, Commercial Real Estate Financing 2012, March 22, 2012, Practicing Law Institute, Chicago, Illinois (Topic: See related publication above).
  • Panelist, “Handling Ethical Issues in Foreclosure, Title Disputes and Opinions”, American College of Mortgage Attorneys 39th Annual Meeting, October 12, 2012, Kohler, Wisconsin (Related publication: “Ethics Issues and Conflicts of Interests in the Representation of Title Insurance Companies and Their Insured “).
  • Program Chair and Panelist, Commercial Real Estate Financing 2013, March 22, 2013, Practicing Law Institute, Chicago, Illinois. Topic: “Getting to Know Your New Best Friends Fannie and Freddie.”
  • Panelist, Modern Real Estate Transactions, August 1-3, 2013, The American Law Institute-Continuing Legal Education (ALI-CLE), Chicago, Illinois. Various topics.
  • Guest Lecturer, Northwestern University Master of Project Management Program, March 6, 2014. Course: Real Estate Transaction Management and Risk Mitigation. Topic: Real Estate Transaction Closing.
  • Program Chair and Panelist, Commercial Real Estate Financing 2014, March 21-22, 2014, Practicing Law Institute, Chicago, Illinois (Topics: (i) legal opinions; (ii) tenant in common transactions; and (iii) mezzanine financing and intercreditor agreements).
  • Panelist, “Where Do We Begin? Navigating Pre-Leasing Issues For A Mixed Use Development “, American Bar Association, Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law, 25th Anniversary Spring Symposia, Leasing Group, May 1, 2014, Chicago, Illinois.
  • Member of Program Committee, Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) 10th Annual Real Estate Short Course, September 9-10, 2014, Palatine, Illinois.
  • Panelist, “Preparing for Closing and Financing Issues”, Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (IICLE), 10th Annual Real Estate Short Course, September 10, 2014, Palatine, Illinois.
  • Program Co-Chair and Panelist, Commercial Real Estate Financing 2015, April 9-10, 2015, Practicing Law Institute, Chicago, Illinois (Topic: Borrower Structures).
  • Panelist, “Risk Management for Not-for-Profit Properties and Projects”, The Rooftops Conference 2016, February 12, 2016, Chicago, Illinois (conference co-presented by The Rooftops Project at the Center for Real Estate Studies, New York Law School, and The Business Law Clinic at the Center for Business Law, Loyola University Chicago School of Law).
  • Program Co-Chair and Co-Panelist, Commercial Real Estate Financing 2016, April 4, 2016, Practicing Law Institute, Chicago, Illinois (Topic: Ground Lease Financing (with Melissa Schmucker Vandewater)).
  • Panelist, “It’s All About the Money–Leases as Collateral for Mortgage Loans”, ABA/ACREL Intermediate Financing Series (Part 2), April 13, 2016 (webinar program).
  • Panelist (with Andrew Berman and Barry Hines), “Ancillary Agreements in Real Estate Transactions”, American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL) 2017 Spring Meeting, Austin, Texas, March 30-April 1, 2017.
  • Program Co-Chair and Co-Panelist, Commercial Real Estate Financing 2017, April 6, 2017, Practicing Law Institute, Chicago, Illinois (Topic: Title and Survey (with Paul Liszewski)).
  • Panelist (with Rasha Elganzouri Gad), “Emerging Trends in Commercial Mortgage Lending During COVID-19”, Chicago Mortgage Attorneys Association, May 5, 2020 (webinar program).
  • Panelist (with Andrew L. Jagoda, James B. Rosenbloom and Adam B. Weissburg), “Intercreditor Issues in the Post Covid World”, American College of Mortgage Attorneys 2020 Annual Meeting, September 9, 2020 (webinar program).
  • Participant (with N. Cornell Boggs, III, Li Zhu, Marian C. LaLonde, William A. Walden, Nicholas H. Meza, and Parwana Noorzad), “What Every GC, Board, and Corporation Needs to Know About Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – Part Two: A Call To Action”, Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Webinar Program, January 21, 2021.
  • Presenter, “10 for 2021–Loan Document Provisions That (Some) Borrowers and Lenders Are Talking About Now”, Association of Corporate Counsel Real Estate Network Legal Quick Hit (LQH) Webinar Program, April 15, 2021.
  • American Bar Association, Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section, member
  • Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL) (elected 2002)
  • Fellow of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys (ACMA) (elected 2012); member, Board of Regents, 2021-present
  • Economic Club of Chicago; member 2002-2023
  • The Field Museum of Chicago; member Board of Trustees, 2009-2024
  • Rush Oak Park Hospital; member, Board of Directors, 2019-present; Vice-Chair, 2023-present
  • Rush University System for Health; member, Board of Directors, 2023-present
  • Member of the State of Illinois Real Estate Administration and Disciplinary Board, 2016-2022
  • Oak Park Economic Development Corporation (formerly known as the Oak Park Development Corporation); board member, member of the executive committee: 2013–2018
  • Thresholds, board president, 2000–2002; member, Board of Directors, 1996–2008
  • Practising Law Institute (PLI) Chicago Real Estate Financing Program, co-chair, 2013-2017
  • American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Continuing Legal Education, member, 2014-2017

Practice Areas

  • Real Estate
  • Energy Law

Admitted

State of Illinois
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois

Education

  • Harvard Law School, J.D. (1986)
  • Member, Board of Student Advisors (1984-1986)
  • Princeton University, A.B. (1983)
  • Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management, Certificate, Quarles & Brady Leadership Program (2016)