Barnes & Thornburg names Salvador P. LaViña chair of the firm’s national Real Estate Department. LaViña is a partner in the law firm’s Los Angeles office.
LaViña has overall management responsibilities for the department, which includes more than 50 attorneys in 19 offices across Barnes & Thornburg’s national footprint. LaViña succeeds Indianapolis partner, Don Williams, who served as chair for more than a decade. Williams will continue as an active partner with the firm and as a member of management committee and strategic vision committee, and as managing partner of the firm’s Indianapolis building partnership.
“Sal has been a vital and enthusiastic part of our growing real estate team, and he’s a great fit for this leadership role,” Williams said.
Barnes & Thornburg’s real estate attorneys provide comprehensive legal counsel to large and small businesses in virtually all areas of real estate law – from a nationally recognized community development and tax credit financing practice to land use, development, finance, energy, leasing, acquisitions and dispositions, public-private partnerships, and tax free exchanges.
“Our department has expanded through smart growth, and more importantly, our real estate lawyers’ commitment to support our clients with responsive efficient counsel,” LaViña said. “I look forward to furthering our expansion, placing a priority on outstanding diverse talent.”
LaViña, who has closed or supervised transactions totaling over $10 billion dollars over the past decade, focuses his practice on the areas where real estate and corporate law intersect, including private equity, fund formation, syndications, private placements, and joint ventures. He is a skilled negotiator and communicator, and has deep experience in virtually all areas of real estate, including acquisitions, multifamily and industrial transactions, 1031 exchanges, development and construction, finance, workouts, public-private and multistate matters. He has been with the firm since 2017.
LaViña is a graduate of the University of California Los Angeles; he earned his J.D. from Columbia Law School.