Ellen B. Friedler

Founding Partner/Managing Partner

Ellen B. Friedler concentrates her practice on commercial leasing transactions and related property management matters. For more than 30 years, she has focused on retail and office leasing and related matters, representing landlords and tenants. Ellen has extensive experience representing landlords with national lease portfolios, national retail tenants and office tenants. She has worked on major leasing transactions involving regional shopping centers, life-style centers, office buildings and mixed-use properties.

Ellen has developed significant relationships within the commercial leasing community on both the legal and business sides. These relationships allow her to assist her clients in establishing and maintaining positive landlord/tenant relationships throughout the leasing process and beyond. Ellen has also developed an extensive catalog of leasing forms and language that permits the commercial leasing group to streamline the lease negotiation and drafting process. She is also a contributing author to a lease negotiation handbook and has been a frequent speaker at retail industry events, including ICSC and PLI.

Prior to founding Strategic Leasing Law Group, Ellen was a Partner at Neal Gerber Eisenberg and the chair of the commercial leasing practice group, where she focused on commercial leasing transactions, as well as assembling and training a group of highly experienced legal professionals in the commercial leasing specialty. Ellen was also a Vice President and member of the Board of Directors of Rosenberg & Liebentritt, P.C., where she was the head of the firm’s retail leasing and telecommunications practices. Rosenberg & Liebentritt served as in-house lawyers for Sam Zell and various enterprises in which Mr. Zell had an interest. Prior to joining Rosenberg in 1990, she worked at Metropolitan Structures, a national office building developer, where she was a co-head of the office leasing group. Before Metropolitan Structures, she worked at Mayer, Brown & Platt, where she had a general commercial real estate practice.

Ellen is AV Peer Review Rated by the Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings in both legal ability and ethical standards. She has also been selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in Real Estate Law and was named as a 2017 Woman of Influence.

Education: Harvard Law School (J.D., 1983), University of Wisconsin – Madison (B.A., 1980)

Bar Admissions: Illinois, 1983.

Partner

Dov J. Pinchot is a nationally recognized commercial leasing attorney with extensive retail, office and industrial experience, who has returned to private practice after spending 12 years in‐house, managing a public company’s national real estate portfolio. Since graduating from The University of Chicago Law School in 1994, Dov has been a partner at DLA Piper and Freeborn (now part of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP) and Senior Vice President at Equity Commonwealth.

Highlights from Dov’s private practice experience include; Providing commercial leasing services to Fortune 100 and other companies (office, retail, residential and industrial), successfully negotiating the lease‐up of lifestyle and shopping centers, HQ and other office leases, restaurant leases, big box lease, sale‐leaseback transactions, logistics centers, long‐term ground leases, and other transactions on behalf of both landlords and tenants. Pragmatic approach that accelerates negotiations and facilitates resolution. Created/taught Leasing Mastery curriculum at DLA Piper through firm‐wide broadcasts. Trained attorneys in commercial leasing skills and tactics. As a leader of DLA Piper’s commercial leasing practice, worked with counterparts in Europe and Asia in coordinating the firm’s worldwide leasing services. Taught commercial leasing seminars in tandem with EY across the US.

Wendy L. Bendersky

Founding Partner

Wendy is a seasoned real estate attorney focusing exclusively on commercial leasing transactions. She counsels national and regional landlords and tenants in the drafting and negotiation of retail, office and industrial leases and ancillary related documents, for space in regional shopping centers, lifestyle centers, and mixed‐used projects across the country. During her more than 3 decades of practice, Wendy has developed significant relationships with many national retail tenants and their counsel which allows her to efficiently and effectively conclude lease transactions on behalf of landlords. However, her work on behalf of both landlords and tenants enables her to navigate both sides of any lease transaction to a swift and successful conclusion for all parties involved, while protecting her clients’ interests and business objectives.

Most recently, Wendy has handled the leasing for several ground-up development and redevelopment projects in various states on behalf of privately held and publicly traded Landlords, with various national tenants such as Vuori, Starbucks, lululemon, J.Crew, Gap Brands, Dave & Busters, Ross Dress for Less, Whole Foods, Planet Fitness, Travis Mathew, Hoka, Parachute Home, Allbirds, Alo Yoga, Tiffany, Chase Bank, Sola Salons, Salon Republic, PetSmart and Five Below.

Before founding Strategic Leasing Law Group, Wendy was a partner at Neal, Gerber Eisenberg in the Commercial Leasing Group representing both landlords and tenants in a wide variety of leasing transactions for properties across the country. Wendy began her career as a general real estate attorney practicing in San Francisco, California, most recently with Coblentz, Patch, Duffy and Bass.

Wendy received her J.D. from George Washington University Law School in 1993 and her B.A. from Northwestern University in 1989. She is admitted to practice in Illinois and California.

Dylan Lower

Senior Paralegal

Dylan has significant experience negotiating and drafting retail leases, lease amendments, assignment agreements, relocation agreements, lease terminations and related documents. In addition to his leasing work, Dylan also has assisted in commercial and residential real estate closings where his duties included reviewing title commitments, plats of survey, coordinating 1031 exchanges and generating and reviewing closing documents.

Prior to joining Strategic Leasing Law Group, LLP, Dylan worked as a paralegal at Pircher, Nicholas & Meeks where he focused his work in the area of commercial leasing transactions.

Dylan received a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree from DePaul University in 2000.

Mary Kay McCreery

Partner

Mary Kay focuses her practice on all areas of commercial real estate law with a focus on shopping center development and retail leasing. She has extensive experience in leasing (both retail and office) as well as in real estate acquisitions, dispositions and development transactions. Mary Kay has broad experience drafting leases, REAs, purchase and sale agreements and other real estate agreements in connection with the development and redevelopment of enclosed, lifestyle and open air shopping centers located around the country.

Education: University of Notre Dame (J.D., magna cum laude, 1999), Marquette University (B.A., magna cum laude, 1996)

Bar Admissions: Illinois

Amy M. Pupino

Senior Paralegal

Amy has significant experience negotiating and drafting retail, office and industrial leases and lease amendments, as well as relocation agreements, termination agreements, landlord lien subordination agreements, data service provider access agreements, assignments, and related documents. In addition to her leasing work, Amy is a proven negotiator that has closed deals with a wide range of national, regional and small clients for properties across the country.

Prior to joining Strategic Leasing Law Group, LLP, Amy worked as a Senior Associate – Paralegal at Global Logistic Properties. She was also a paralegal at Pircher, Nichols & Meeks and Brixmor Property Group where she focused her work in the area of retail leasing transactions.

Amy received a Certificate of Paralegal Studies, with honors, from Loyola University Chicago and her B.A. from DePaul University.

Stephanie S. Malayil

Partner

Stephanie is an experienced real estate attorney with over 20 years of commercial transactional experience providing legal counsel for one of the largest shopping center owners in the United States as well as in private practice. She was directly responsible for drafting, negotiating, and closing 100+ commercial leases annually, while simultaneously managing a high-volume lease administration department at Macerich (MAC NYSE). During her time in-house and in private practice Stephanie has gained extensive experience in the drafting and negotiation of retail (including restaurant and theater) and office leases. In addition, she has negotiated lease-related documents such as lease guaranties, letters of intent, SNDAs, memorandums of lease, lien subordination agreements, amendments and assignment agreements. She has a proven ability to get deals done in a timely, efficient, and professional manner while maintaining company/client directives and protocols. Stephanie has advised landlords on major and ground-up redevelopment matters as well as property management issues.

Education: The University of Tulsa College of Law (J.D., 1996), Michigan State University (B.A., 1993).

Bar Admissions: California, 2016. Arizona, 2015. Minnesota, 1997

Paralegal

Renee has extensive experience in commercial leasing, working alongside attorneys and paralegals for the past 20 years in the representation of landlords and tenants in both office and retail settings.  Renee’s responsibilities range from drafting office and retail leases, amendments and termination agreements, to brokerage agreements and estoppel certificates. In addition to her leasing work, Renee also has assisted in acquisitions of commercial properties where her duties included conducting due diligence reviews of leases to assist clients in evaluating and closing transactions.

Prior to joining Strategic Leasing Law Group, LLP, Renee was a legal secretary and then a legal assistant in the Commercial Real Estate Practice Group at Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg, where she worked with the attorneys and paralegals in preparing and finalizing commercial leasing transactions.

Renee received a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in 1992 from Rosary College (n/k/a Rosary College of Arts and Sciences at Dominican University).

Renee Shearer