Andrew Eliot Porter

I am personable, industrious, reliable, efficient, and creative, and my practice primarily extends to commercial litigation, real estate acquisition, development, and leasing, and construction contracting. Among other things, I have prosecuted and defended securities and consumer fraud class and mass actions, real estate and partnership disputes, and other complex legal claims in federal, state, and industry arbitration venues.

Following stints at two national law firms and a boutique Chicago litigation firm, I served as general counsel and chief operating officer of a luxury high-rise development company, a role which encompassed financial modeling, deal structuring, asset valuation, construction contract administration, and enterprise risk management. In that capacity, I acquired substantial hands-on industry experience and became intimately familiar with the myriad intricacies of the real estate business.

I have dealt extensively with Illinois common interest communities and condominium associations, I have navigated federal, state, and local laws governing the marketing and sale of residential property, and I have devoted considerable time to both commercial leasing and mixed-use property management. I also established a residential real estate brokerage company and served as its managing broker. In addition, while working with a start-up Chicago-based online apartment listing service, I authored a popular new standard-form Chicago apartment lease, numerous articles about the Chicago Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance (the CRLTO), and several guides on sound apartment leasing practices.

I have now returned to private practice, where I counsel local real estate developers and investors, debt funds, general contractors, condominium associations, and purchasers and sellers of commercial and residential property. I have also acquired substantial federal equity receivership experience.

After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, I briefly attended medical school at the George Washington University School Of Medicine And Health Sciences. before veering another direction and earning a Juris Doctor degree from the Georgetown University Law Center. Before embarking on my career in private practice, I served as a federal judicial law clerk for the Honorable James C. Cacheris, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia. I also worked at both the Federal National Mortgage Association and Julien J. Studley Co., a national commercial real estate leasing firm.