Jonathan Sears is a Partner in the Los Angeles office of Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP. He has extensive experience representing publicly and privately held developers, real estate investment trusts, real estate opportunity funds, pension funds, institutional investors and entrepreneurs in sophisticated transactions involving the acquisition, disposition, leasing, development and financing of all types of commercial real estate. For over 20 years his practice has emphasized representing clients in structuring and negotiating real estate finance and structured finance transactions, including secured and unsecured credit facilities, portfolio and multi-state financings, syndicated and securitized loans, acquisition and development loans, construction financing, bridge and permanent financing, mezzanine and preferred equity investments, euro credit facilities, stand-by letters of credit, caps, swaps and other interest rate hedging transactions and defeasance transactions. Mr. Sears also has substantial experience over the past two decades advising project owners and investors in workouts of distressed real estate, including negotiating with special servicers in restructuring conduit loans and counseling clients on discounted payoffs, short sales, deeds-in-lieu, extensions, forbearances and pre-litigation and workout strategies. Mr. Sears also represents developers in the acquisition, development, construction and financing of affordable housing and other multi-family and mixed use development projects.

Mr. Sears is a recognized leader in his field. He is listed as a leading practitioner in real estate transactions and finance in The Legal 500 United States: Volume IV: Real Estate, Employment & Labor, and Tax, 2007 edition. Mr. Sears has also been nominated by Super Lawyers as a Southern California Super Lawyer in real estate annually since 2008.

Mr. Sears’ involvement as real estate counsel to Douglas Emmett, Inc., in connection with the company’s initial public offering, was profiled in a special section on “Top Southern California Law Firms” published in the November 13, 2006, issue of the Daily Journal.

Mr. Sears is a frequent author and lecturer on commercial real estate topics. His speaking engagements and published articles on commercial real estate related topics include: “Managing Interest Rate Risk” (Los Angeles County Bar Association – May 2007), “The USA Patriot Act Meets the Real Estate Industry” (Los Angeles County Bar Association – Real Property Section Luncheon Speaker – November 18, 2003), “Gauging Conduit Loans” Perspectives (Winter 2003), “Substitute Play: Defeasance as a Key to Unlocking Conduit Loan Prohibitions” Forward (2001), "A Penchant for Senior Housing?" The Institutional Real Estate Letter, April 1999 (co-author), and "Conduit Loan Fundamentals" Real Estate Forum, December 1998.

Mr. Sears earned his law degree in 1989 from the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law. Mr. Sears is a native of Los Angeles and received his undergraduate degree from Revelle College of the University of California, San Diego, where he was awarded Phi Beta Kappa and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. Mr. Sears also conducted postgraduate studies in economics at the London School of Economics & Political Science.

Mr. Sears is actively involved in pro bono and community service activities and was a longstanding member of the Board of Directors of The Boys & Girls Club of Hollywood. Mr. Sears has served as real estate counsel to a number of community service organizations throughout his career, including, among others, Westside Children’s Center, The Boys & Girls Club of Hollywood, Venice Family Clinic and Providence Tarzana Foundation.

Mr. Sears is a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association (Real Property Section) and the State Bar of California. Mr. Sears also serves on the Real Property Advisory Committee for the Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB) - California. Mr. Sears is also a past member of the Steering Committee of the Real Estate Finance Subsection of the Los Angeles County Bar Association.