Scott Lapins is head of Schwartz Cooper's Real Estate department.  Mr. Lapins concentrates his practice in real estate, taxation and corporate law.  He has a particular interest in real estate transactions, including representation of lenders in syndicated construction financing involving borrowing base facilities for development projects throughout the country, and in representing clients in the acquisition and disposition of insurance agencies.

Mr. Lapins' practice also includes mortgage lending, mezzanine financing, purchase and sales of businesses, 1031 exchanges and acquisition and disposition of shopping centers, hotels, apartment buildings and office buildings. Among his mortgage-lending clients are JPMorgan Chase Bank, Wachovia Bank, LaSalle Bank, RBC Builder Finance Group and US Bank. He also has acted as a court-appointed arbitrator in the disposition of claims that were a part of the $500 million settlement relating to alleged securities violations brought against Prudential Securities.

Mr. Lapins is a certified public accountant.  He has been selected as a member of the Leading Lawyers Network and as an Illinois Super Lawyer by organizations which identify the top 5 percent of lawyers in each field of practice based upon their reputation and experience. He also is AV® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.*

*CV, BV and AV are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies.

Bar Admissions & Memberships

• Illinois

Education

• J.D. - Northwestern University, 1980 (cum laude); Editorial board member, The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology
• B.A. - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1977 (with highest honors)

Memberships

• International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
• Chicago Mortgage Attorneys Association