Real Estate Strategies for Associations & The Legal Sector

Norman Jemal began his career in real estate in the early 1990’s. He serves as the Principal and Senior Vice President for Douglas Development Corporation and currently directs all of the leasing activity for the company and throughout his career has negotiated and leased over five million square feet with a cumulative value of over one billion dollars. As a principal with the company, Norman is involved in all aspects of the business including acquisitions and dispositions, development, finance and corporate strategic planning. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Washington, DC Economic Partnership, an organization that promotes business opportunities throughout the District and contributes to business retention and attraction activities, and on the Board of Trustees for Ford’s Theatre. He has also served on the Board of Directors for The Little Blue House, a family development center that serves as an oasis for low-income, poor and struggling families. As of 2015 Norman serves on the board of United Bank.

Greg Meyer serves as the Washington, DC Regional Head for Brookfield Properties, which consists of 7 million square feet located in Washington, DC, Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland. He is responsible for setting the strategic direction and overseeing day-to- day operations of Brookfield’s Greater DC portfolio. In his 28 year career, Mr. Meyer has held executive level positions with Equity Office Properties, Trammell Crow Company and Penzance Company. Mr. Meyer holds a BA degree from Hamilton College and an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School. He is past President of the board of directors for the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District and sits on the board of directors for the District of Columbia Building Industry Association. He is a member of the Economic Club of Washington, DC and Federal City Council. Mr. Meyer and Brookfield Properties are active supporters of Special Olympics of DC, Cristo Rey High School in the District of Columbia, and The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington.

Saul M. Levin, M.D., M.P.A., is the Chief Executive Officer and Medical Director of the American​ ​Psychiatric Association (APA). Prior to assuming this role in October 2013, Dr. Levin led the District of​ ​Columbia Department of Health (DOH). There, Dr. Levin was responsible for the health of the nation’s​ ​capital, including primary care for from infants to the seniors on Medicaid and Medicare, DC-funded health care, HIV/AIDS, addictions, health professional licensing and regulation, policy and planning. He​ w​​as also responsible for health emergency preparedness, planning and coordinating alongside dozens of​ ​federal and local agencies to ensure the public’s health during major events such as President Obama’s second inauguration. Moreover, he promoted the development of a citywide health information​ ​exchange that connects health care providers, shares critical information to promote patient care, tracks​ ​outcomes, prepares for disasters and provides for public health surveillance. Dr. Levin also served on the D.C. Health Exchange Board and chaired the​ ​Essential Health Benefits​ ​Package Subcommittee, where he successfully led the effort to ensure that residents of the District of​ ​Columbia had access to a full range of substance abuse and mental health services. He also co-chaired the committee that oversaw the integration of substance abuse and mental health services into the new​ ​Department of Behavioral Health. In 2012, Dr. Levin served briefly as Senior Deputy Director of DOH’s Addiction Prevention and Recovery​ ​Administration. During his tenure, Dr. Levin promoted substance abuse prevention efforts in all eight​ ​wards of the city through the work​ ​of the Prevention and Access to Recovery teams, including implementation of over $20 million in federal grants for services, assessed and referred an increasing​ n​​umber of individuals into treatment services, and connected more clients to recovery support services. Dr. Levin has long been involved in organized medicine and psychiatry. He served as Vice President for​ ​Science, Medicine, and Public Health at the American Medical Association. There, he oversaw programs​ ​related to evolving health delivery systems, such as in the areas of prevention and health care disparities. He also led efforts to improve the interface between clinical medicine and public health. Among other positions Dr. Levin has held includes serving as a special expert appointee in the Substance​ ​Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where he led the initiative to integrate primary care, substance abuse, mental​ ​health, and HIV/AIDS response. While serving as President for Access Consulting International Inc., he​ ​worked with federal, state, and local governments and private companies to provide health policy, program, and research and evaluation services. He is a former President and CEO of Medical Education for South African Blacks, an anti-apartheid​ ​education trust that provided scholarships to South African black students in health care. He helped​ ​award more than 11,000 scholarships to students studying to become physicians, nurses, substance abuse counselors and other health care professionals. In 1982, Dr. Levin received his M.B.B.Ch. (M.D.) from the University Witwatersrand in Johannesburg,​ ​South Africa, and completed his residency in psychiatry at the University of California, Davis, Medical​ ​Center. In 1994, he received his master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians – Edinburgh, and​ ​Clinical Professor at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in​ ​Washington DC.

Robert Pinnegar, CAE, is the CEO of the National Apartment Association (NAA), a position he ascended to in 2017. He has more than 20 years of experience in the rental housing industry and was NAA's COO from 2012-2017. During his tenure he has improved the relationship between NAA and its network of affiliates, facilitated the development of a common business operations platform for affiliates and established NAA’s affiliate executive networking forum, the AE Brainstorming Conference. Prior to joining the NAA staff, he served as the Executive Director of the San Diego County Apartment Association (SDCAA), which is an NAA affiliate. Prior to his promotion to Executive Director, Pinnegar served as the SDCAA’s Director of Public Affairs. He also spent a year as the Vice President of Public Affairs at the San Diego Association of Realtors. Pinnegar earned his Bachelor of Arts in Applied Arts and Sciences, Public Administration from San Diego State University. He is an active member of ASAE and holds its Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation.

Sean Glynn focuses on nonprofit representation and has significant experience in complex financings, including the securities, corporate, tax and real estate issues that arise in such transactions. His experience includes representation of lenders and credit enhancers, nonprofits and developers, underwriters and trustees. He is an active member of the firm’s nonprofit finance practice, which includes representation in approximately 80 percent of such transactions done in the District of Columbia.

Brian A. Cotter is an Executive Vice President of Commercial Leasing with JBG SMITH, where he is responsible for the firm’s commercial leasing efforts. Mr. Cotter oversees a portfolio of properties totaling more than 8 million square feet, along with future development projects in National Landing, Reston, and the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor. He also plays a leading role in the creation and implementation of JBG SMITH’s marketing efforts throughout the DC region. Prior to joining JBG SMITH, Mr. Cotter spent the previous ten years at Tishman Speyer, where he focused on office leasing throughout Northern Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC. During his tenure at Tishman Speyer, he participated in the completion of more than three million square feet of transactions. Prior to Tishman Speyer, Brian worked for CBRE in Tysons Corner where he focused on office research in Northern Virginia. He is an active member of NAIOP Northern Virginia, a board member of CoreNet Global, and is the immediate past president and current board member of the Commercial Real Estate Broker Association of Greater Washington, DC.

Anthony T. Pierce is a litigator who has handled a variety of complex disputes in state and federal courts, including commercial litigation, intellectual property, employment matters and internal investigations. He is the partner in charge of the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. Mr. Pierce’s litigation and trial experience covers a diverse group of industries, including technology and telecommunications, health care, energy, entertainment and media, financial services and government contracting. As an outgrowth of his service as an investigator for the U.S. Government Accountability Office during law school, Mr. Pierce also has significant experience in internal investigations. He has conducted internal investigations to determine possible civil and criminal liability for clients for accounting fraud, employee misconduct and theft of intellectual property. Both his litigation and investigative experience have involved representing numerous clients before a plethora of federal and state regulatory and investigative agencies, including the FDA, FTC, FCC and state attorneys general. Mr. Pierce received his J.D. in 1987 from the Georgetown University Law Center where he served as the case and notes editor of the Georgetown Immigration Law Journal. Mr. Pierce is a frequent speaker on legal issues ranging from how to conduct internal investigations to the unique aspects of litigating in the “rocket docket.” He has also spoken on how to structure software licenses to protect against future litigation. In his management capacity, Mr. Pierce has been a frequent speaker on diversity issues facing the legal community.

Chip has over 25 years of broad commercial real estate experience, ranging from working for developers, non-profits, corporations, institutions, religious organizations, hospitality organizations, multi-family , GSA, education and health care providers. Chip has virtually worked on every type of commercial real estate project, with all aspects of the delivery. Chip founded Clear Real Estate Services, with a focus on bringing together the industries best professionals, executing commercial real estate projects with a collaborative, direct, clear approach to ensure success.

As senior vice president and director of commercial services for United Bank, Jon is responsible for driving the development of commercially-focused opportunities throughout the Bank’s footprint. He leads a team focused on cultivating new relationships and implementing treasury services in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Jon joined United Bank following the 2016 acquisition of Bank of Georgetown, where he served as director of business development. In this role, he guided the expansion of Bank of Georgetown’s commercial client base throughout the Washington metropolitan market, with an emphasis on deposit growth. Jon joined Bank of Georgetown at its founding in 2005, focusing on the development of commercial loan and deposit relationships. He later served as a commercial lending officer, providing working capital and term financing to commercial real estate investors and operating companies. Jon began his banking career at BB&T (formerly First Virginia Bank in Falls Church, Va.), completing the Management Training Program and serving as the financial center manager for BB&T’s Georgetown branch. Jon is active in several organizations throughout the Washington metropolitan area. In 2014, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors appointed him to the Fairfax County Industrial Development Authority. He serves on the board of directors and the executive committee for Alternative House, a Vienna-based refuge for abused and homeless children in Northern Virginia. For 10 years, he served on the Georgetown Business Association’s board of directors and in 2008, received its Business Person of the Year award. Jon graduated from James Madison University in 2001 with a BBA in business marketing. In 2013, he received a Stonier Diploma and Wharton Leadership Certificate from ABA Stonier Graduate School, an executive management school for the financial services industry in partnership with The Wharton School. Jon lives in Vienna with his wife, Allyson, and three daughters.

Sherry Cushman has spent her nearly 30-year career exclusively advising tenants in the legal sector throughout the United States. She is headquartered in C&W’s Washington, DC office and travels the country working with law firms to develop long-term business and real estate strategies that support and fulfill their strategic business goals and objectives. Ms. Cushman’s focus is on implementing real estate solutions that closely integrate her clients’ business, financial and operational goals with a focus on profitability impact for single, multi-office and large portfolio users alike. As leader of C&W’s national Legal Sector Advisory Group, Sherry coordinates the group’s initiatives, national benchmarking, as well as serves as a Thought Leader and Chief Strategist to C&W law firm clients. The Legal Sector Advisory Group consists of over 100+ highly sophisticated law firm real estate advisors, who draw on multi-disciplinary teams of C&W professionals, to deliver strategic solutions specifically tailored for the legal industry. Ms. Cushman has represented law firms in over 12 million square feet of law firm prime lease, lease restructures/renewals, build-to-suits and base building negotiations. During her career, she has been the lead broker and/or team member in representing the real estate portfolios for numerous global, national and regional law firms. In 1985, Ms. Cushman began her career in commercial interiors, designing interior space for law firms. She transitioned her career in 1993 to commercial brokerage, specializing in tenant representation and incorporating her design expertise into developing real estate strategies for her clients. During her 30-year tenure, she served for nine years as a Corporate Managing Director at Studley and founded the company’s Law Firm Practice Group. She then spent a decade at CBRE as a Senior Vice President and was one of five founding members of its Law Firm Practice Group. Sherry’s tenure and extensive expertise provides her clients with unparalleled service and legal sector knowledge.