Jonathan L Mechanic

Jonathan L. Mechanic is a partner of the Firm and is chairman of Fried Frank's real estate department. He joined the Firm in 1978 and became a partner in 1987, upon rejoining the Firm after acting as general counsel and a managing director of Howard Ronson's HRO International Ltd., a real estate development organization responsible for the development of more than 2.5 million square feet of office space in Manhattan. Mr. Mechanic routinely counsels developers, owners, investors, REITs and lenders in all aspects of commercial real estate transactions, including the acquisition, disposition and development of office, retail, hotel and mixed-use properties; commercial mortgage, mezzanine and construction financing; acquisition of distressed debt; and joint ventures and restructurings. He also represents both landlords and tenants in commercial leasing and ground lease transactions. Mr. Mechanic has taught the real estate transactions course at Harvard Law School for the last several years and will be doing so again in the spring of 2012. He also lectures regularly for NYU Law School, the Real Estate Board of New York and the Practising Law Institute, and is a co-author of The Commercial Office Lease Handbook published by the American Bar Association. Honors & Awards Fried Frank's real estate department was awarded the Chambers USA Award for Excellence 2009 for Real Estate, an award which honors outstanding lawyers and law firms across the USA. In 2007 Mr. Mechanic was named a "Dealmaker of the Year" by The American Lawyer and in 2006 he was the recipient of the Chambers USA Award for Excellence for Best Real Estate Lawyer. Mr. Mechanic is consistently recognized as a "Star" individual in real estate, a ranking given to attorneys with exceptional recommendations in their field, by Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business. He is consistently recognized as a leading lawyer by Legal 500 in Real Estate. He appeared on the cover and was featured in the 2007 edition of New York Super Lawyers. In March 2011, he was named as one of the "Most Influential Lawyers" by The National Law Journal and The New York Observer listed him on its "Power 100" list of the most powerful people in New York real estate. In addition, Real Estate Weekly recognized Mr. Mechanic in its 2008 All Stars edition, which honors real estate industry leaders. He was also honored with the Kenneth R. Gerrety Humanitarian Award at the Real Estate Board of New York's 112th annual banquet and the National Jewish Health 2009 Humanitarian Award. He has also been honored for his philanthropic activities by Israel Bonds, National Jewish Hospital, the Modell Foundation, ORT, The Association for the Help of Retarded Children and Albert Einstein Medical College and the Real Estate Board of New York. Professional Associations Member, Executive Committee, Board of Governors, Real Estate Board of New York Member, American Bar Association Member, Association of the Bar of the City of New York Member, National Realty Committee Member, Executive Committee, Real Property Law Section, New York State Bar Association Advisory Board, NYU Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy Advisory Board, New York University Real Estate Institute Member, Real Estate Roundtable Member, American College of Real Estate Lawyers Member, YMWREA Board Member, New York University Law School Board Member, The Eldridge Street Synagogue Board Member, YMCA Board Member, The Jeffrey Modell Foundation Board Member, Realty Foundation Board Member, National Jewish Hospital Bar Admissions/Licensed Jurisdictions New York