Maura O’Connor and Jim Cochran, who built and headed two successful Southern California real estate practices for major national law firms, have launched their own boutique real estate and finance practice, O’Connor Cochran LLP, headquartered in downtown Los Angeles. James Bryce Clark, a complex workouts and bankruptcy specialist and general counsel of the IT standards body OASIS, also joins the firm as of counsel.
“We are delighted to bring our top 100 law firm experience closer to clients and their businesses, in a small firm environment where our team can offer practical help, quickly and effectively,” said O’Connor, who will serve as managing partner of O’Connor Cochran LLP.
O’Connor and Cochran are well-known national and regional experts in business-process-driven finance, acquisition, leasing and distressed asset transactions, and frequent expert speakers and authors in various venues, including ALI-ABA, the Practising Law Institute, Urban Land Institute, Trigild Lender Conference, CCIM, and real estate law textbooks for the California State Bar (CEB series).
The firm’s leaders have designed and implemented cutting edge technology-driven systems and processes which allowed them and their legal team to handle several of the largest retail store openings in California on a fixed price per store site basis. For one multinational retailer entering the US with a new concept grocery store, they negotiated, documented and closed more than 150 store site acquisitions worth in excess of $1B in 18 months. They have applied a similar approach to distressed asset resolutions and dispositions (including asset sales through receivers and note sales) in the current economy.
O’Connor is the legal blogger for a national commercial real estate industry Web portal, GlobeSt.com. She was named one of the top 10 real estate lawyers in Southern California by Real Estate Southern California. O’Connor recently served as the first female chairman of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC). She also works extensively in direct foreign investment with businesses entering the West Coast and U.S. markets.
Cochran chaired the California State Bar’s Uniform Commercial Code Committee, and serves on the board of the Financial Lawyers Conference. Cochran is an expert in handling mezzanine loans and loan portfolios as well as complex multi-party workouts.
O’Connor Cochran LLP’s website is www.oconnorcochran.com and its phone number is (213) 236-3624.
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To schedule interviews or for additional information, please contact:
Anastasia Mickelson
Mickelson & Associates, Inc.
(818) 384-3670
[email protected]
