Louis S. Cohen is chair of the firm’s Chicago real estate department and a member of the firm's Policy Committee. His general practice is national in scope and concentrated in two areas: transactional real estate and matters related to the development and use of professional sports venues. His real estate practice involves commercial acquisitions and dispositions, development, venture structuring and formation, leasing, lending, restructuring, and workouts. His clients include national lenders, developers, REITs, public pension funds, pension fund advisors, and governmental entities.

Mr. Cohen's sports franchise and sports facilities development practice addresses the development, financing, and leasing of professional sports stadia, as well as the acquisition and disposition of interests in professional sports franchises. His clients in this area have ranged from states, counties, and municipalities to the private owners of majority and minority interests in professional franchises.

Among the many recognitions he has received, Mr. Cohen is one of only thirteen Illinois attorneys recommended by the Corporate Real Estate Cross-Border Guide. The respected English publisher Chambers & Partners cites him in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, calling him "ethical and hard-working." Mr. Cohen is included in the 2007 edition of The Best Lawyers in America^® for Real Estate Law. He has been designated an Illinois Super Lawyer in an annual survey conducted jointly by Law & Politics and Chicago magazines. Mr. Cohen frequently lectures on a variety of industry issues around the country.

Mr. Cohen began his career representing national developers of regional retail malls in their land acquisitions, entitlements, and anchor tenant leasing. In the late 1980s, he was lead counsel for Sears, Roebuck & Company in its acquisition, zoning, and development of an 800-acre assemblage in suburban Chicago. The site has since become a mixed use development that houses Sears’ world headquarters. In the early 1990s, Mr. Cohen was actively involved in some of the largest acquisitions of distressed real estate and real estate secured loan portfolios for pension funds and other institutional real estate clients. During the mid-1990s, Mr. Cohen expanded his practice to include the development and financing of professional sports stadia, and served as lead negotiator for many recently completed professional sports facilities throughout the United States.

In 2005, Mr. Cohen served as lead development counsel for a venture between the Mills Corporation and Mack-Cali Realty Corp. for the development of Meadowlands Xanadu, a 5 million+ square foot entertainment/retail, office, hotel and sports development located within the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Additionally, Mr. Cohen was senior counsel for the 2005 relocation of the national headquarters of Sara Lee Corporation, a project that involved the acquisition of a new research and development facility in suburban Chicago, Illinois.

In 2006, Mr. Cohen was retained by Angels Baseball, L.P. to serve as an expert witness in sports facilities leasing and negotiations in connection with its dispute with the City of Anaheim, California. He also served as special counsel to the City Counsel of the District of Columbia in connection with the approval of legislation authorizing the development of a new baseball stadium in the District for use by the Washington Nationals baseball franchise.

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