Theodore J. Novak is a senior partner in DLA Piper's real estate practice group. He is chair of the firm's Zoning, Land Use and Condemnation practice and for 25 years has been involved in the firm's Management and Policy Committees. Mr. Novak is one of the country's most highly regarded real estate and land use attorneys.

With more than 35 years of experience, Mr. Novak has been instrumental in the acquisition, disposition, condemnation, rezoning, and development of all types of property. Mr. Novak has had extensive experience with administrative, legislative, and judicial processes. He has extensive litigation experience in trial courts and has argued before the Illinois Supreme and Appellate Courts on numerous occasions. He has handled some of the most significant and controversial real estate and land use projects in the Midwest.

Leading international legal publishers consistently rank Mr. Novak among the top lawyers in his profession. The Global Counsel Corporate Real Estate Handbook, which ranked DLA Piper the leading real estate practice in the US, said of Mr. Novak: a "premier figure for land use, development and zoning, he is considered a first port of call for the most complex issues." Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, published by the respected English research firm Chambers and Partners, lists him in the top tier of America's leading lawyers and has described him as a "superstar," "the guru of land use," "one of Chicago's top practitioners" and a “creative, bright and peerless attorney.” Mr. Novak is listed in the 2008 editions of the Guide to the World's Leading Real Estate Lawyers, the International Who's Who of Real Estate Lawyers and the International Who's Who of Business Lawyers. The Leading Lawyers Network also recognizes Mr. Novak as a Leading Lawyer in Illinois. He has been named one of the Lawdragon 500 Dealmakers in America. As the result of research projects conducted jointly by Law & Politics and Chicago magazines, Mr. Novak is designated an Illinois Super Lawyer in real estate. He is the only member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers in the Midwest who concentrates on land use, zoning, and condemnation matters.

In 2007, Mr. Novak was honored with the Judge Learned Hand award. Named in memory of one of America's greatest jurists and humanitarians, the award is given annually by the American Jewish Committee to outstanding leaders of the legal profession who have been voices of understanding and good will. Mr. Novak also is known as a teacher and author in the field of real estate law.

Mr. Novak's client list is extensive and includes the largest stock exchange listed companies as well as individual property owners and developers.

Current Representative Development Projects:

• Representation of Southworks Development LLC in all legal matters related to the redevelopment of the 500-acre former US Steel Southworks Plant site, including work related to acquisition of the site from United States Steel, private financing, zoning and land use entitlements, approval of public roadways and other infrastructure, and public financing and incentives to be obtained from federal, state, and local sources.  In addition, this representation includes structuring and negotiating a joint venture agreement to create the development entity that ultimately will redevelop the site. Southworks, once the site of the largest steel mill in the world, is the biggest remaining undeveloped parcel of land in the City of Chicago. 
• Representation of a prominent developer in obtaining all zoning and land use approvals for a major condominium-hotel, the proposed development of the Chicago Sun-Times site at Wabash Avenue and the Chicago River with the fourth tallest high rise in Chicago (1125 feet). The proposed development is expected to exceed 2.4 million square feet and is intended to include office, condominium, retail, and significant open space and public plaza components. In addition, the firm is representing the developer in connection with all real estate matters (leasing, condominium documentation, right-of-way vacations and adjustments, and similar matters) attendant to the proposed development.
• Representation of American Invsco and MB Realty in connection with zoning and land use approvals for the redevelopment of the former 3-acre Columbus Hospital site at 2520 North Lakeview in Chicago with a 780,000 square foot mixed residential luxury high-rise and townhome development. The proposed project preserves the shrine for Mother Cabrini, a unique religious structure in the United States. The representation of the developer involved extensive negotiations with more than 11,000 objectors, among them a multitude of condominium associations and community and civic groups represented by three law firms.  Negotiations ultimately arrived at an unprecedented consensus development approval. The firm is representing the developer in all real estate matters attendant to the proposed development.
• Representation of The Boeing Company and Boeing Realty Corporation in the highly publicized relocation of Boeing's world corporate headquarters from Seattle, Washington, to Chicago, Illinois. The firm represented Boeing in real estate matters arising during the site review and evaluation process conducted by the company while scouting potential locations in Chicago, Dallas, and Denver, then handled lease negotiations for the building that was finally selected at 100 North Riverside in Chicago. The firm also represented Boeing in analyzing the public sector financing and governmental incentive packages that Chicago Dallas and Denver offered to Boeing. These packages proposed property tax abatements and reimbursements, corporate income tax credits, job training grants, and new legislation. Each component included different restrictions on use of funds and different public policy-related requirements (such as compliance with minority business enterprise goals). The firm also handled the negotiation, drafting, and execution of agreements memorializing the governmental incentive packages offered by the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, and other local governmental agencies.
• Representation of the Town of Fort Sheridan Company as master developer of the Fort Sheridan Historic District in connection with the annexation, zoning, and development of this residential project of over 550 units proposed for a portion of this former military installation. This representation included negotiation with governmental bodies for land acquisition, preparation of development documents required to preserve the historic district as required under federal laws, negotiation of annexation agreements and land use regulations, and creation of homeowners' associations and other bodies to preserve and protect the historic nature of the fort in the context of a large residential development.
• Representation of the developer of the McCormick Place Expansion, one of the nation's largest public/private development projects. The project provided an approximately 1.3 million square foot addition to the McCormick Place complex and included the consolidation of McCormick Place North South, and the Lakeside Center into a combined, multi-district planned development. This project included the coordination of all land use issues and involved numerous development and design strategy negotiations with public and private officials including railroads, utility companies, the Federal Highway Authority, Illinois Department of Transportation, Chicago Department of Transportation, and numerous other parties. Air rights issues, uses, public and private pedestrian and vehicular traffic management and staging plans, lakefront and neighborhood access, view corridors, and many other development issues were coordinated in order to obtain governmental approvals for the completion of the project.

Teaching

• 1998 - present: Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University School of Law, teaching a "Land Use, Zoning and Condemnation" course.
• 2000 - present: Lecturer at University of Chicago Law School, teaching a course in land use, zoning and condemnation.

认许

• Colorado
• Illinois
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

会员资格

• American Bar Association
• Illinois State Bar Association
• Chicago Bar Association
• Lambda Alpha International, Ely Chapter (an honorary Land Economics Society)
• LaSalle Street Council (former member)
• Chicago Development Council (former member)
• Urban Land Institute (former member)
• American College of Real Estate Lawyers
• Metropolitan Planning Council, Executive Advisor
• The Economic Club of Chicago

出版物

• Co-author, "Regulatory Takings," Illinois Land Use Law (Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, May 2004)
• Co-author, Illinois Zoning, Eminent Domain and Land Use Manual (Lexis Law Publishing 1997) (update in process)
• Co-author, "Land Use and Development Controls," Basic Real Estate, Vol. II (Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education 1995)
• "Landowner Strategies in the Face of Condemnation," National Law Journal (September 26, 1994)

Seminars

• "Designing the 21st Century" Counselors of Real Estate, Chicago, Illinois (April 2008)
• "The Public Use Requirement: Revitalizing the Community or Benefit to Private Interests?" and "Regulatory Takings: Lingle and the Substantive Law," CLE International Seminar on Eminent Domain, Chicago, Illinois (November 2005)
• Co-chair, Eminent Domain Conference, CLE International (September 2003)
• “From Health Care to Home Ownership,” Real Property Law Committee, Chicago Bar Association (February 2003)
• Panelist for Main Program: “Magnet Public/Private Projects: Does the Pull Really Work?” ACREL Fall Meeting (October 2002)
• “The Public Use Clause: An Old Limit on Takings Given New Life,” CLE International (September 2002)
• “Takings, Inverse Condemnation and Public Use,” Illinois Municipal League 89th Annual Conference (September 2002)
• “Takings and Inverse Condemnation,” Illinois Municipal League Balanced Growth Workshop (April 2002)
• Panelist for Land Use Program: “The Challenges of Land Assembly/Getting Rid of Those Pesky Landowners,” ACREL Spring Meeting (March 2002)
• “Land Use Law - Issues in Planning and Development; Practical Zoning I: Effective Planning Commission Presentations,” Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (January 2002)
• “Putting Together the Package: Bringing Boeing to Chicago,” Real Property Law Committee, Chicago Bar Association (October 2001)

公益与慈善

• Academy of Sciences/Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Board of Trustees
• Metropolitan Planning Council, Executive Advisor
• Children's Memorial Hospital, Board of Directors