Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP is pleased to announce that Lorie Soares Lazarus and Peter David Ballance have joined the firm as partners in the Real Estate, Energy, Land Use & Environmental practice group in Silicon Valley and Century City, respectively. They were most recently at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP.

This is the fourth real estate team to join the firm in the last two years: in March 2023, the firm welcomed a five-attorney team in Dallas, and in 2022 the firm added a real estate finance trio in New York and a five-member healthcare real estate team in Los Angeles.

"We are thrilled to welcome Lorie and Peter to the firm,"­­­­ said Luca Salvi, chair of Sheppard Mullin. "Their synergistic practices will enable us to expand our renowned real estate practice in California, and their clients will benefit from our national footprint and full-service real estate capabilities."

Sheppard Mullin Real Estate, Energy, Land Use & Environmental practice group co-leader Michael Leake added, "Growing our real estate practice with practitioners with deep roots in this industry is a strategic priority for us. Lorie and Peter’s experience, coupled with our cross-practice collaborative model, will help our clients take advantage of opportunities and assess risks within the market and achieve their goals in deals, restructurings and investment outcomes."

Soares Lazarus represents real estate investors of all types, including institutional lenders, borrowers, domestic and international commercial banks, investment funds, REITs, investors and property owners, in connection with a wide variety of commercial real estate transactional matters nationwide. Having led hundreds of real estate transactions to date, she has deep knowledge of all aspects of the transactional real estate life-cycle and has represented all sides in real estate deals, including secured and unsecured lending and borrowing, intercreditor and lender-group arrangements, post-closing asset management, workouts, loan restructurings, loan settlements, deeds-in-lieu, foreclosures, ownership, management and disposition of property, including REO, acquisitions, build-to-suit and forward purchases and ground leasing. Soares Lazarus received her B.S. from Santa Clara University, her M.B.A. from the University of Southern California and her J.D. from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.

Ballance advises institutional lenders, financial institutions, developers and property owners in commercial real estate financing, including loan workouts and the purchase and sale of improved and unimproved real property in all asset classes throughout the United States. Ballance regularly represents institutional lenders and borrowers in loan restructurings and workouts, foreclosures, deed-in-lieu and deed-in-the-box transactions, as well as positioning REO assets for sale. He also advises both lender and borrower clients on nonperforming loans and distressed real estate in all asset classes, and he handles acquisition and disposition transactions and related matters, as well as securitized lending, mezzanine loans and construction loans for office, industrial, residential, multifamily, retail, hospitality and mixed-use buildings. He received his B.S. from the University of New Mexico, his M.S. from Brigham Young University and his J.D. from UCLA School of Law.

About Sheppard Mullin’s Real Estate, Energy, Land Use & Environmental Practice Group

With more than 120 attorneys, Sheppard Mullin has one of the largest, most diverse and experienced real estate, energy, land use and environmental practices of any AmLaw 100 firm. We represent builders, developers, investors, lenders, owners, retailers, major landowners, nonprofits and local agencies in key markets in the United States and internationally. We leverage the breadth of our experience, industry connections and market knowledge to deliver full-service counsel and holistic solutions to meet our clients’ needs. Our attorneys work as a seamless team with a single goal – to help clients create value in an ever-changing environment.

About Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP

Sheppard Mullin is a full-service AmLaw 50 firm with more than 1,000 attorneys in 16 offices located in the United States, Europe and Asia. Since 1927, industry-leading companies have turned to Sheppard Mullin to handle corporate and technology matters, high-stakes litigation and complex financial transactions. In the U.S., the firm's clients include nearly half of the Fortune 100. For more information, please visit www.sheppardmullin.com.

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