Professional Experience
Everett S. Ward is a partner in Quarles & Brady’s Chicago office. He is a member of the Firm’s national Real Estate Group. Mr. Ward has practiced real estate law since 1986. He has represented corporate, commercial and not-for-profit clients concerning the acquisition, disposition, development, financing and leasing of commercial, industrial and residential real property, including hotels, industrial properties, mixed-use properties, manufactured housing developments, multifamily developments, office buildings and shopping centers. Mr. Ward has also represented clients in the formation and financing of real estate joint ventures on both stabilized assets and development projects. His experience includes:
- Ongoing representation of corporate clients, including an S&P 500 real estate investment trust that is the largest publicly-traded owner, operator and developer of multifamily housing in the United States.
- Representation of a joint venture in a $150,000,000 multibank construction loan to construct a mixed-use facility in Chicago, Illinois.
- Representation of a pharmaceutical company in the negotiation of a major office lease in the Chicago metropolitan area.
- Representation of a large Chicago-based not-for-profit in low income housing tax credit transactions.
- Representation of pension and governmental plan sponsors and plan advisors on a variety of real estate transactions, including the formation of joint ventures for the acquisition and development of urban infill sites.
Education and Honors
- Harvard Law School (J.D., 1986)
Board of Student Advisors (Member, 1984-1986)
- Princeton University (A.B., 1983)
The Princeton Club of Washington, D.C. Scholarship (Recipient, 1979-1983).
Bar Admissions
Illinois,
1986
Court Admissions
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 1986
Professional Recognition
Mr. Ward is AV
® Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell’s highest peer recognition for ethical standards and legal ability.
Selected for inclusion in the 2006-2012
Illinois Super Lawyers® lists (Real Estate).
Leading Lawyers Network member (Real Estate Law: Commercial, 2008-2010; Real Estate Law: Finance, 2008-2010).
Who’s Who In Black Chicago (Chicago’s Counselors at Law - 2006, 2007 and 2010).
Professional and Civic Activities
- American Bar Association (Member, Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section).
- National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Former Associate Member).
- Pension Real Estate Association (Former Member).
- Fellow of American College of Real Estate Lawyers.
- Fellow of American College of Mortgage Attorneys.
- Economic Club of Chicago (Member).
- Lambda Alpha International (Member, Ely Chapter).
- Princeton in Chicago Schools (Member, Advisory Board, 2000-present).
- The Field Museum (Member, Board of Trustees, 2009-present).
- Thresholds (President, 2000-2002; Member, Board of Directors, 1996-2008).
- Oak Park Development Corporation Loan Committee (2007-present).
Mr. Ward is a former vice chair and chair of the Real Estate Investment Trust Committee of the American Bar Association’s Real Property, Probate and Trust Section. Mr. Ward currently is a member of the Section’s Community Outreach Standing Committee, and in that capacity he was a co-chair of the 2009 Chicago Community Outreach Program (CCOP). CCOP was a 12-week course designed to teach the fundamentals of real estate law to beginning/intermediate minority real estate practitioners.
Over the course of his career, Mr. Ward has also been active in the community. He is currently a member of the Economic Club of Chicago. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of The Field Museum. In addition, he has served on the Executive Committee of the Alumni Council of Princeton University, the Board of Directors of Thresholds, where he is a past President of the Board of Directors, and has participated for a number of years in the “Princeton in Chicago Schools” program at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Chicago. He also is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights.