Experience

Redemption Botanicals

• United States
• Venture Capital and Private Equity Principals
• 1 - 100 Employee

• General Counsel, Director and Corporate Secretary

  • Oct 2019 - Present

  Oversaw formation of the firm, strategic planning advisor, risk management, transactions, support the board and advise on corporate governance, develop legal and compliance strategy. Identify, assess, control and monitor compliance-related risks and implement action plans to address such issues. Negotiate and draft contracts with business partners, clients, and vendors, including Non-Disclosure Agreements, Shareholder Agreements, Joint Venture Agreements, and Letters of Intent. Review and draft commercial leases. Advise business units on the current laws and regulations, including those implemented by the IDFPR, Department of Agriculture and 280(e) taxation issues. Part of the Leadership Team. Show less



LW Lands, Corp. / RJW, Attorney at Law

• Greater Chicago Area

• Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary

  • Mar 2015 - Present

  COO, GC & CORPORATE SECRETARY Oversaw formation, strategic planning, corporate governance, and asset/investment protection. Provide strategic legal, regulatory/compliance, and operational advice to clients, in the financial services, construction, manufacturing, and real estate industries. Handle various legal matters including cryptocurrency, business formation, organizational structure and governance; regulatory; contracts and agreements; litigation; SEC filings; M&A; asset acquisition; business strategies; and Human Resource and employment issues. • Raised capital from global conglomerate for acquisition of a Fortune 50 commercial property valued at over $250M. • Secured funding from a global hedge fund for the acquisition of a $60M multi-family property. • Establishing for three major commercial firms three separate joint venture real estate investment projects. • Created a start-up cannabis social impact incubator. • Represented a global financial services client during that firm’s acquisition of another global financial services company via a stock purchase agreement. • Engaged by a national broker-dealer to advise and represent during regulatory investigations—closed investigations and resulting litigation was resolved in client’s favor. • Successfully resolved a NFA arbitration against a global commodity pool operator. • Negotiated employment agreements for C-Suite executives, gaining more than clients’ initial expectations. • Created contracts, business plans, and handled litigation for a local manufacturer that was then able to continue growing business based upon advice and results delivered. Show less



PFGBEST

• United States
• Financial Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• General Counsel

  • 1997 - 2015

  As key decision-maker in ongoing management/operations, ran business w/362 employees , >80 countries, w/29 affiliates/subs: 5 foreign entities. Managed budgets & internal/external legal resources globally. Led growing internal Legal/Compliance/ERM ( FCPA, Dodd-Frank, SEC, FINRA, SOX, CFTC, NFA, OSC, IROC, BaFin); >100 outside counsel. • Drafted/negotiated/standardized 100k+ key business contracts, including IT/software agreements. • Won over 200 cases worldwide seeking >$735M damages. • Supervised/managed legal, compliance, & business risks for 12+ mergers,: upstream/reverse merger, asset purchases, JVs. Led successful integration teams. Profitably sold many major divisions/assets. • Added >$1.1B AUM to Firm’s overall value via 4+ global commodity brokerage firms asset acquisitions. • 3 major regulatory issues: minimal fines, constraints, no reputational harm. • Drafted offering memorandum, did compliance, & tri-ran standalone mutual fund RIA: #1 Morningstar Equity Precious Metals Funds. • Increased 1500% annual sales; designed customer account agreements - became industry standard. • Formed >15 commodity pools worth >$1.5B: drafted prospectus, ran prep/registration 15 private placement offerings/post offering filings w/SEC & its foreign equivalents, conducted blue sky compliance. • Created/participated as exec for all legal functions, for 8 domestic/international broker/dealers, 9 RIAs & 3 FX/precious dealers. • Represented 5 financial publishers/finEd firms, including SFO magazine; legal matters for 3 restaurants, 1 US/1 global construction firm & 1 renewable energy firm. PRIOR: GC: family-owned firm: • Negotiated full recovery on $1M disputed property insurance claim. PRINCIPAL: • Prepared IPO: private telecom company went public. • Handled employment disputes (large higher education employment discrimination class action). • Prepared SEC prospectuses for securities offerings/quarterly filings; litigated securities fraud cases. Show less