February 22, 2022

MPS Law Names Andrew Chamberlain, Michael Bregman As Partners

Meltzer, Purtill & Stelle LLC (MPS Law) continues to grow its professional staff by elevating associate attorney Andrew Chamberlain, who focuses on mergers and acquisitions, to partner. Separately, the firm has also hired a new partner, Michael Bregman, who is focused on commercial litigation. Chamberlain, who has been with MPS Law since 2016, works with…

August 17, 2021

Third Circuit Rejects Triangular Setoffs as Not Satisfying Mutuality Requirement of § 553 of the Bankruptcy Code

Author: Timothy W. Brink

EDITOR’S NOTE: In this article from the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Unsecured Trade Creditors Committee Newsletter, Tim Brink discusses the Third Circuit’s decision holding that “triangular” setoffs are not permissible in bankruptcy and rejecting the argument that parties can contract around the requirement of strict bilateral neutrality. In its recent decision in In re Orexigen Therapeutics…

August 2, 2021

MPS Law Bolsters Team with New Associate Attorney, Paralegal

Meltzer, Purtill & Stelle LLC (MPS Law) is pleased to announce a pair of key additions to its professional staff. New associate attorney Max Frazier joins the firm’s commercial litigation practice group with extensive experience in cases involving breach of contract, business disputes, commercial evictions, debt collection, and other business matters. He has represented a…

May 21, 2021

Ray Horn Featured on MBBI’s Inaugural “Trends in M&A” Podcast

May 21, 2021 – When MBBI (the Midwest Business Brokers and Intermediaries association) announced the launch of their new “Trends in M&A” podcast, the decision to slot MPS Law partner Ray Horn as the first featured guest came as no surprise. A former MBBI president and longtime board member, Ray offers the perspective of a…

May 14, 2021

MPS Law Welcomes Evan Blewett as Partner

Evan D. Blewett 125 S. Wacker Drive, Suite 2900 Chicago, Illinois 60606 T: 312-461-4317 F: 312-987-9854 E: eblewett@mpslaw.com Evan Blewett, a distinguished attorney with extensive experience in commercial real estate and corporate finance transactions, has joined Meltzer, Purtill & Stelle LLC (MPS Law) as a partner. Evan’s practice spans both transactional and litigation work, with…

January 4, 2021

“Condolike Conversions” Coming To A Mall Near You

Author: Brian Meltzer

Introduction/Background Shopping centers and malls (collectively referred to herein as “Malls” or individually as a “Mall”) throughout the country were dealing with the effects of changing consumer buying habits due to the rise of online shopping, which was accelerated by the Corona virus. Big box retailers have been closing stores and filing for bankruptcy in…

December 30, 2020

Suggested Legal Structure for Owner/Occupied Affordable Housing Developments Using Blanket Mortgage Financing

Author: Brian Meltzer

Today, most newly constructed owner/occupant housing developments are governed by a condominium and/or non-condominium homeowners association (“HOA”) made up of the owners of the homes in the development. The housing crash and the great recession which followed (the “Crash”) exposed many flaws and weaknesses in the HOA model. See, Time to Rehab the Aging Condominium…

December 18, 2020

MPS Law Elevates Holly Shuman to Partner

Holly G. Shuman 125 S. Wacker Drive, Suite 2900 Chicago, Illinois 60606 T: 312-461-4319 F: 312-987-9854 E: hshuman@mpslaw.com December 18, 2020 – Leading Chicago real estate law firm MPS Law has elevated associate attorney Holly Shuman to partner, effective January 1, 2021. The move capped a rapid rise through the ranks for Shuman, who clerked…

November 25, 2020

Ten Things We Do to Save Our Tenant Clients Money

Author: Scott Hargadon

CONTACT 125 S. Wacker Drive, Suite 2900Chicago, Illinois 60606T: 312-461-4314F: 312-987-9854E: shargadon@mpslaw.com Many clients, including companies who have multiple locations and those that don’t, believe that they don’t need to have a “tenant lawyer” involved in a lease transaction because they believe 1) their corporate counsel or general real estate attorney can adequately advise them…

November 6, 2020

Proceed with Caution When Rejecting a Subtenant’s Proposed Sublease Assignment

Author: Samuel J. Schumer and Laura M. Carroll

Our leasing team recently encountered a somewhat unique scenario in the commercial leasing arena involving an office sublease between affiliates and the potential pitfalls of a spinoff of the subtenant into its own independent entity. The tenant/sublandlord was particularly concerned about the prospect of one of its competitors acquiring the subtenant after the spinoff is…

October 13, 2020

Q&A: Holly Shuman on Getting the Deal Done for Her Clients

For the past six years, MPS Law associate Holly Shuman has focused on real estate transactions. A rising star within the field, Holly recently sat down to talk about MPS Law’s unique approach to representing tenants and the future of commercial leasing. Tell us a little about yourself, and how you became interested in commercial…

August 27, 2020

Q&A: Scott Hargadon on the Importance of Representing Tenants

Scott Hargadon is one of the leading tenant lawyers in the country, representing major corporations, mid-market companies, and entrepreneurial ventures in office and industrial/warehouse leases throughout the United States and Canada. Scott sat down recently to talk about the importance of specialization, negotiating in tough markets, and how COVID-19 has affected tenants. Why did you…

July 30, 2020

Insurance Issues in Single Tenant Leases

Author: Scott Hargadon

In 2020, I have represented tenant clients on three significant single tenant lease transactions, the term I use when a tenant is leasing an entire building. The landlords in these transactions approached insurance issues quite differently and it provided the opportunity for me to consider what are the best practices for tenants when leasing all…

July 15, 2020

Ten Things Tenant Brokers Should Do in Letters of Intent

Author: Scott Hargadon and Holly Shuman

As leasing attorneys for tenants, we read many letters of intent (“LOI”) as part of our job. Some are excellent, providing a concise description of the parties’ business deal. Others raise more questions than they answer. We applaud brokers who do a thorough job with LOIs because during the LOI negotiations, a tenant’s negotiating leverage…