Jeff Williams has an extensive background in complex business transactions, with an emphasis on real estate, finance, and emerging businesses. He has closed a steady stream of real estate and business transactions over the last 25+ years, representing developers, landlords, tenants, entrepreneurs, and health care companies. Recent highlights include serving as lead counsel on four of “top ten DFW real estate deals of the year”. Jeff also represented the seller in the largest downtown/Uptown Dallas real estate sale of the year in 2020.

Representative Clients: Billingsley Company, Tenet Healthcare, RED Development, Cipriani, State Farm’s real estate investment arm, Mutual of Omaha, Ryan Companies, Klyde Warren Park, Fisher Investments, Lanoha Real Estate, Kaizen Development Partners, Palmwood Capital, Republic Property Group, Tourmaline Capital Partners, USG Corporation.

Representative Transaction Counterparties: 7-Eleven, ACS (American Cybersystems, Inc.), Akin Gump, Alliance Bank, Allianz, Allstate, Alto (Scriptdash, Inc.), Amazon.com, Amerisource Bergen, AMN (AMN Healthcare, Inc.), Anderson Merchandisers, Arby’s, Ares Management, Ascension Coffee at The Shacks, Ascension Saint Thomas, At Home Stores, LLC, Bank of America, Bank of Jackson Hole, Baylor Medical Center, Beam Suntory, Birdcall, BluCora, Inc., BNSF Logistics, Boston Scientific, Bozeman Deaconess Health Services, Bridger Logistics, Brinker, Caliber Home Loans, CareNow, CAVA, Cenvo Worldwide, CNA, Cold Stone Creamery, Common Spirit, Constellation Brands, CVS, Dell USA, Delta Companies, Denbury, Denny’s, Dillon Gage, Dish Wireless, Dunkin Donuts, Edward Jones, Einstein Bagels, EnLink, Eno’s, Ernst & Young, Ethan Allen, EZGo Cars, Fast & Furious, FedEx Office Retail, First Citizens Bank, First Watch, Fisher Investments, Flying Fish, Flying Saucer, Fogo de Chao, Fortis, Freddie Mac, Funimation (Sony), Gallagher Bassett, Gallo Winery, Gamestop, Inc., General Motors, Grainger, Grand Central Terminal NYC, Green Acres Nursery & Supply, Green Brick Partners, Greystar, Grubhub, Gypsy Kitchen, Hajoca, Halal Guys, Hillwood, Houlihan Lokey, Howard Hughes Holdings, Inc., Hudson Yards, Humanaut Health, Industrious, Invesco, Isenberg Faucets, Jack in the Box, Jack Morton, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Jordan Kahn Music Company, JPI, KERA, KFC of America, Inc., K. Hovnanian Homes, Kilwins, Kimley Horm, Koch Real Estate, Kubota, LA Fitness, Lee Hecht Harrison, LifeTime Fitness, Lincoln Financial, LiquidSpace, Live Grandscape, Madera Residential, Mattress Firm, Medical City, Memorial Hermann, Miriam Cocina, Miznon, MN8 Energy, Mockingbird Station, Morgan Stanley, Mr. Chow, Mr. Cooper (Nationstar), Mutual of Omaha, Nationwide, Nokia, North Italia, Olsson, Options Clearing Corporation, Paris Baguette, Pei Wei, Pinecroft Realty, PMG Worldwide, Populous Group, Primois, Primrose School, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, Pulte, QuickTrip, RealManage, Remedy Medical Properties, Robert Half, Rodeo Goat, Rolls Royce, Room and Board, Salad and Go, SalesForce.com, Sanyo, Securus, Sentinel National Life Insurance, Shaw Carpets, Sherwin Williams, Signet Jewelers, Skin Pharm, Sleep Experts, Smoothie King, Sprinkles Cupcakes, St. Regis, Starbucks, Taco Cabana, Taylor Morrison, Texas Tech University, The Henry, Thompson Knight (now Holland & Knight), TIAA, Tim Hortons, Tom Thumb, TPG Apollo, Tri Pointe Homes, TricorBraun, Truist Bank, Unika Vaev, USAA (Affinius), UT Southwestern Medical Center, Venetian Las Vegas, Verily Life Sciences, LLC (Google), Verizon, Weaver and Tidwell L.L.P., Welltower Inc., Whataburger, White Rhino Coffee, Wolters Kluwer, Working Solutions, Worksuites.

Sales/Dispositions
• The Union-Dallas (publicly-reported price $370MM+)
• The Christopher multifamily tower (publicly-reported price of $172MM).
• SummitWoods Crossing, suburban Kansas City, Missouri
• One Pacific Place, Omaha, Nebraska
• 600,000sf Industrial portfolio, Dallas
• LA Fitness site, Dallas

Development Projects
• Boston Scientific research facility in suburban Minneapolis (publicly reported value of $170MM)
• 24-story Class AA "Ryan Tower" in Legacy West, Plano, Texas.
• Mutual of Omaha 44-story corporate headquarters tower
• The Row at Heartwood Preserve, Omaha, Nebraska
• Southlake medical facility, Baylor Scott & White and United Surgical Partners
• Build-to-suit industrial facility for Interceramic, Inc.
• Build-to-suit corporate headquarters buildings for Zale Delaware, Inc.

Acquisitions
• 200+ acre development site, Allen, Texas
• Acquisitions of datacenter development sites in Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, Minnesota, and Ohio
• Ongoing representation of Tenet Healthcare and its subsidiaries in acquisition of sites for development of surgery centers and medical office buildings

Leasing-Landlord Representation
• Dallas headquarters lease for salesforce.com
• Corporate headquarters for CoreLogic
• Corporate headquarters buildings for Nokia
• Corporate headquarters for Brinker International
• Corporate headquarters for Nationstar Mortgage LLC (now known as Mr. Cooper)
• Corporate headquarters for At Home
• UT Southwestern Medical Center
• Corporate headquarters for Workplace Resource Group
• Single-tenant corporate office for Sanyo Energy (U.S.A.) Corporation
• Represented Landlord in regional headquarters lease for The Options Clearing Corporation

Leasing-Tenant Representation
• Represented Cipriani in two marquee restaurant leases at Grand Central Terminal in New York City
• Represented Cipriani in its restaurant lease at Wynn Las Vegas
• Represented drybar in negotiating 45+ retail leases in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Houston, Chicago, Washington DC, and other major cities across the country

Real Estate Finance
• Represented Borrowers in dozens of mortgage financing transactions (both construction and long-term take-out financing) with institutional lenders such as Nationwide Life Insurance Company, Hartford Life Insurance Company, Frost Bank, Lincoln National Life Insurance Company, and State Farm Life Insurance Company

Emerging Businesses
• Represented Drybar Holdings LLC, beginning with its initial formation, business plan, friends-and-family capital raise rounds, franchise system launch, and then through its first institutional capital partner transaction; drybar sold its product line in 2020 to Helen of Troy for a publicly-reported price of $250MM+

Outside the law firm, Jeff was the Vice Chairman of the Board of SP Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPBC), was the chair of its Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee, and a member of its Credit Policy and Compensation Committees. He played a central role in the sale of the bank for 3x its IPO price. From 2008 through 2019, Jeff also worked in a consulting capacity with international financial institutions and real estate developers, advising his clients on land use strategy and asset management of their significant real estate assets in Las Vegas. This work included securing land use permits for over 20,000 hotel rooms and millions of square feet of related commercial and hospitality uses. Along with a partner and co-investor, Jeff has invested, directly or indirectly, in a number of emerging businesses, including drybar, AnthemIQ, Squeeze, Fresa’s, Hi+Lo Liquor, Waffle Waffle (Happi Foodi), Rumble Fitness, Malibu Poke, washlava, Holy Kombucha, Humanauts, and Canopy.

If you’ve read this far in the biography, you’re probably game for a few irrelevant facts/stories. During law school in Washington, D.C., Jeff attended the Clinton v. Jones (520 U.S. 681) oral argument in person at the United States Supreme Court on January 13, 1997, although it is unclear if his presence affected the outcome. His law school mistakenly double-paid the registration fee to a national First Amendment Constitutional Law Moot Court competition, so they asked Jeff to coach two separate teams for the same competition in 1998. This required months of preparation behind a bizarre conflict-wall structure, where the two teams were not informed of each other’s identity prior to the actual competition, to avoid any possible advantage from practicing against each other. But, the effort was worthwhile. Out of 50+ schools in the competition, the two Georgetown teams coached by Jeff finished first and second. Since that fateful day, Jeff has been unsuccessful in convincing friends, colleagues, and annoyed strangers that this feat is on par with the 1972 Miami Dolphins or the 1995 – 1998 Chicago Bulls. The struggle continues.

Although not relevant here, Jeff is always keen to point out that he once managed a gourmet kosher restaurant in Chicago, wrote two published opinions for the Tennessee Supreme Court, and is currently a duly-appointed Kentucky Colonel (as are several of his law firm partners).

Finally, he is deeply uncomfortable writing about himself in the third person.