David represents individuals, partnerships, financial institutions, and privately and publicly held business entities. A significant portion of his practice today involves counseling clients with respect to the acquisition of whole and fractional ownership and leasehold interests in aircraft, the financing of those acquisitions, and the management and regulatory issues associated with private ownership of aircraft such as Gulfstreams, Falcons, Challengers, Citations, Global Expresses, and other jet and turbo-prop aircraft. As the leader of the aircraft team, David coordinates the purchase, ownership structure, management and operation, and tax and regulatory aspects of aircraft ownership with other members of the group. He has represented clients in connection with the unwinding of lease and financing agreements when aircraft ownership was no longer desirable. Taking advantage of his strong real estate background, David also has assisted clients in the structuring and closing of Section 1031 aircraft exchange transactions, including straight exchanges and deferred and reverse exchanges.

David’s practice includes providing advice to clients on issues related to commercial and industrial leases, sales, acquisitions and exchanges of commercial and industrial properties, construction and financing of commercial and industrial facilities, land use and zoning, residential and commercial development, and sports marketing and structuring. In recent years, he has represented tenants in several of the largest office lease transactions in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, and in leasing transactions throughout the United States and in Western Europe. Although his real estate leasing practice primarily involves the representation of tenants, David also represents landlords in many parts of the country.

David speaks frequently on a variety of aviation and real estate-related topics, and has written articles for professional organizations. Most recently, he spoke at the Second Annual China Aeroleasing Summit in Beijing on key legal issues affecting aircraft leasing transactions globally and in China and at the McDermott Will & Emery Family Office Symposium and The Northern Trust Company’s Wealth Management Advice Summit on aircraft ownership and management issues.

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• Represented the seller of a multi-state storage business in connection with the transfer of real estate in more than 15 states involving significant title and transfer tax problems and the transfer of the company’s Gulfstream G-IV to the owners of the seller
• Represented a major pharmaceutical company in the restructuring of its ownership of multiple aircraft to keep the client compliant with technical Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules regarding citizenship and to reduce exposure to possible sales and use tax costs regarding the restructuring
• Represented a Caribbean-island university in developing and negotiating an air transportation arrangement to assure the university that air transportation would be available for its students, faculty and staff at the beginning and end of each semester
• Represented multiple purchasers of aircraft and fractional interests in aircraft and in connection with alternative ownership and acquisition strategies to delay, reduce, or eliminate sales and use taxes related to purchasing and leasing aircraft

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