Mark Battleson, Business, Real Estate, Deal & Loan Workout Attorney

Mark Battleson is the founder and principal attorney of Battleson Law, LLC, a corporate, real estate, and business law firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. He holds a JD from Emory University School of Law and an MBA in Finance and Strategy from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, and has more than 30 years of combined legal and executive business experience. Battleson Law represents small and middle-market businesses, real estate developers, and individuals across corporate law, real estate transactions, development projects, and complex business disputes.

Education

• JD, Emory University School of Law
• MBA, University of Michigan – Ross School of Business
• BA, University of California – Santa Barbara

Areas of Experience

• Buying and selling of small and middle-market businesses
• Commercial real estate leasing and development projects
• Corporate law matters and business transactions
• Complex commercial disputes and workouts
• Representation of real estate developers and capital providers
• Legal guidance for individuals

Biography

Overview

Throughout his 30+ year career, Mr. Battleson has worked in deal teams as an attorney, investment banker, and principal involved in operating businesses, development projects, and existing assets with a value in excess of $2.2 billion. As a seasoned business lawyer in Atlanta, he has experience in several core practice areas:

Investment Banking & Capital Markets Background

Mark returned to graduate school after several years of law practice and earned his MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. His finance career included:

• Investment bank, New York City — Institutional Securities, Equity Division; developed a strategy analyzing derivatives (options/futures) of stocks and bonds and their reaction to enterprise-level litigation and regulatory matters
• Large Atlanta law firm — represented developers and capital providers; formed entities and partnerships; structured and closed tax-credit-based equity financings and conventional debt; handled commercial real estate sales and financings across retail, office, multifamily, hospitality, and land

Real Estate & Business Transactions

Prior to founding Battleson Law, LLC, Mark developed his legal and financial expertise across a number of local and national investment and asset management firms, with stops in San Diego and Miami before returning to Atlanta. His roles included:

• Principal, operating company management — oversaw acquisitions and divestitures
• Capital markets director, country’s largest multifamily developer — led legal-heavy investment and financing activities for East Coast operations
• Executive, boutique real estate investment and merchant bank, Miami — managed investment and financing processes, including negotiation of business terms in debt and equity transaction documentation for condominium and apartment developments and land
• Development manager, real estate investment firm, San Diego — focused on institutional debt and equity investments in residential and retail developments

His in-house work primarily involved market-rent multifamily, tax-credit multifamily, condominium, RV and manufactured housing community (MHC) parks, and single-family housing.

In providing alternative/consultative services, Mr. Battleson has also:

• Wound down and sold the hard and intellectual property assets of a manufacturing firm in Georgia
• Acted as counsel and eCommerce manager for a B2B Internet startup in San Francisco during the dotcom boom
• Served as an expert witness providing damages opinions
• Served as a member of a small University of Michigan venture capital fund, placing investments alongside larger firms

Litigation & Trial Experience

Mark graduated from Emory University School of Law in 1995. His early legal career included:

• Third-year practice clerk, United States Attorney’s Office
• Judicial clerk to the Chief Judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals
• Commercial litigator representing individuals and businesses
• Insurance defense attorney defending personal injury and workers’ compensation claims

During his initial trial practice, Mark prosecuted and defended hundreds of depositions of fact witnesses and medical experts, successfully defended dozens of trials, and negotiated hundreds of favorable settlements.

Why Battleson Law

Whether in law firms or investment/asset management firms, Mark has continued to hone his legal skills through the real-world negotiation and execution of corporate, transactional, and business contract matters.

Battleson Law was founded after Mark repeatedly saw business colleagues encounter nuanced “errors” in deal structures or transactions — errors that traced back to attorneys without financial modeling skill or industry experience serving as the final preparers of documentation. Mark has spent much of his career on the business side, including responsibility for financial modeling and structuring, giving him first-hand experience of “living with” the documents after closing. He finds it gratifying to bring that business-level knowledge to individuals and small businesses throughout Georgia.

Work With Mark Battleson

Battleson Law, LLC represents businesses, real estate developers, and individuals facing corporate, real estate, transactional, or business law matters in Atlanta and across Georgia. Contact Battleson Law, LLC to discuss your matter today.

To learn more about Mark’s background, connect with him on LinkedIn.