Ted Yi: A Man You Can Count On
Following is an excerpt:
Ted Yi got into the business in 1983, having finished law school in 1982. His initial interest was in health care, but there were no suitable opportunities in that direction before the chance to enter real estate law presented itself, and he quickly became intrigued by that area as well.
“I was offered work in home foreclosures for a local suburban savings & loan, and I took the assignment,” Yi said, now Partner / Chicago Office Co-Managing Partner, at Quarles & Brady. “About a year later, I was offered a job at what is now Ungaretti & Harris, and once there, I really got started in commercial real estate law, mostly on the lender side, doing commercial loan deals.”
Yi simply enjoys being in the real estate industry — the challenges, the people, the work itself. All major reasons why he’s remained in it after all of this time.
“On a visceral level, I love to see the tangible results of my work, such as a hospital or a skyscraper, right there in front of me. Other areas of law tend to produce fairly abstract results, but bricks & mortar are as real as it gets. Everybody needs real estate on one level or another, and it’s fun to help builders, owners, and users give form and substance to those needs.”
He also enjoys that the real estate market is cyclical, “I’ve worked through three or four cycles over the course of my career, and each point along the cycle brings its own challenges and opportunities for commercial projects. It stays fresh.”