Jane Smith's practice focuses on transactions involving commercial real estate. Her broad range of experience extends to the:

• Creation of joint ventures for multi-family, retail and office projects
• Sale of industrial and office properties
• Evaluation of distressed properties
• Formation of urban redevelopment and public private partnerships
• Evaluation of alternative energy projects
• Operation of shopping centers
• Negotiation of office, industrial, and retail space leases
• Development of medical office buildings
• Construction of mixed use and brownfield projects 

Jane has extensive expertise in shopping centers, having worked on transactions involving more than 130 regional, million-plus square foot centers in more than 34 states. She also has experience with equity investments in real estate, all types of lending secured by real estate representing life insurance companies, national banking associations and investment funds.

She represents clients on a range of complex multi-state and multi-national transactions. Her client counsel includes tax advantage strategies for investment property, the redevelopment of manufacturing sites into commercial uses, in-fill and mixed-used development and dispositions of properties needing remedial action plans.

Her clients have included banking institutions, hospitals, real estate investment trusts (REITs), national insurance companies, pension fund advisors, national real estate and energy developers and big box and department store retailers.

She has advised clients in all areas of compliance, including FCPA, land use regulation and development, including Brownfield No Further Action letters, zoning, taxation, green building (LEED), ADA and FHA accessibility standards, air rights, wind energy, public parks, public art and impact fees.

Jane's recent projects include representing:

• The sale of 46 open-air shopping centers in twenty states valued at $1.43 billion to a joint venture of a private equity firm
• One of the largest public retirement systems in a transaction recognized nationally as a mega deal and only one of few to close since the credit markets froze in the purchase of a portfolio of over ninety buildings containing more than 9 million square feet of industrial property located in nine states; the innovative structure guaranteed a closing without requiring the purchaser to select properties or to allocate the purchase price until just before closing
• A national investment advisor to a state pension fund in the Midwest in the build-to-suit acquisition of multi-family housing in a city planned redevelopment project financed through tax abatements; city resolutions were successfully obtained so that all contract milestones were achieved on time
• A Canadian developer in the development, sale and financing of a regional shopping center with an associated planned residential, office and industrial community in the southeast involving a master plan of easements to divert existing waterways and control flooding in conjunction with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; all government permits were obtained and a layer of multiple covenant and restriction agreements permitted the development of the properties; the diversion of water also provided a recreational lake
• The nation's second largest bank in the finance of a U.S. REIT's acquisition of a substantial portion of the U.S. retail assets of a Dutch holding company; this transaction was completed on a fast track basis over a holiday season
• A national insurance company's foreign investment fund in the sale of a retail shopping center in Chicago prior to the completion of a Remedial Action Plan and receipt of a No Further Action letter; the client was able to close the fund as scheduled
• A pension fund advisor in the acquisition of a historic downtown Boston office building involving zoning issues and neighboring redevelopment concerns; the client was able to complete acquisitions within the quarter, allowing them to meet financial projections

• International  Council of Shopping Centers
  • Law Conference, Chair (2008)
  • Board (2000 - 2013)
• CREW Network
  • CREW Foundation, Trustee (2011 - 2013)
    • Chair  (2013)
  • Executive Committee and Immediate Past President (2010)
  • President (2009)
  • President Elect (2008)
  • Director (2007 - 2009)  
• Center for Women in Law, University of Texas School of Law, Founder 
• CREW Austin, Inc., President (2005)
• The General Counsel Forum - Austin San Antonio Chapter, Secretary (2011 - 2013) 
• Commercial Leasing and Strategy - Monthly Newsletter Editorial Board
• American Bar Association - Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section
• State Bar of Texas
• State Bar of Georgia
• Missouri Bar Association

• "Women Leaders in Law," - The American Lawyer Magazine (2013)
• American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL), Fellow
• "Woman of Influence," Real Estate Forum (2008 - 2009, 2012)
• The Best Lawyers in America, Real Estate Law (2008 - 2013); Litigation Real Estate (2013)
• Chambers USA, Real Estate (2012)
• "Texas Super Lawyer," Thomson Reuters, Legal (2008 - 2012)
• "Women in Business Law," Real Estate, Expert Guides (2012)
• Finalist, Americas Women in Business Law Awards 2013 presented by Euromoney Legal Media Group for the Best in Real Estate Category.
• "Texas Top Rated Lawyer," LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell (2012 - 2013)
• The International Who's Who of Real Estate Lawyers (2011)
• "Profiles in Power," Finalist, Austin Business Journal (2008)
• Featured in New York Times article, "Women in Commercial Real Estate: Reaching Out to a Strong Network in a Weak Economy" (2008)

Jane has published more than 30 articles on numerous topics and presented papers at the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Conferences, American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL) meeting, the Georgia Real Property Law Institute, Texas Bar Advanced Commercial Real Estate Seminar and the Mortgage Lending Institute.

Some of her recent publications and speeches include:

• "Advanced Real Estate Strategies Texas Bar Course," Course Director, Fredericksburg, TX, December 6-7, 2012
• "Recent Developments in Real Estate Law," International Council of Shopping Center Law Conference, Orlando, FL, October 26, 2012
• "The U.S. Legal System: How it Impacts Retail Real Estate," University of Shopping Centers, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, March 5, 2012
• "Overreaching by Lenders and Borrowers: How the Terms of Loan Documents Can Become Tangled and Undone," ALI-ABA, August 3, 2011
• "Whether Inside or Outside of the U.S. What You Need to Know to Avoid Compliance Fines and Charges from Your Real Estate Projects," RECon ICSC Convention, May 23, 2011
• "Show Me the Money - Maximizing your Stimulus Dollars," CREWNetwork, San Francisco, CA, October 22, 2010
• "Pigs Get Fed and Hogs Get Slaughtered - Making Sausage from Butchered Deals," American College of Real Estate Lawyers, Toronto, Canada, October 7, 2010
• "Ten Things I Hate about My last Deal - What to Do Better Next Time:  Practical Advice for Real Estate Lawyers," Mortgage Lending Institute, Dallas, TX and Austin, TX, September 24, and October 15, 2010
• "Go Green, Get Green: Environmentally Friendly Buildings May Help Property-Owners Survive," Scotsman Guide, January 2010
• "Gains of Building Green in Long Run Can Outweigh Initial Costs," Austin Business Journal, November 2009
• "Greening Real Estate Transactions: What Real Estate Attorneys Should Know About Being Green," Advanced Real Estate Strategies, Texas Bar, Santa Fe, NM, October 16, 2009
• "On the Ropes: Commercial Real Estate Relationships in Today's Challenging Climate:  Considerations for Lenders, Landlords, Tenants, and Brokers," CTCAR, Austin, TX, September 25, 2009
• "Career Trends and Critical Job Skills in 2010s," ReCon, Las Vegas, NV, May 19, 2009
• "The Art of Business Conversation in an Increasingly Diverse Business World," ICSC 2008 ReCon, Las Vegas, NV, May 21, 2008; BOMA International Conference, Denver, CO, June 24, 2008; CREW Network Convention, Houston, TX, October 16, 2008
• "Commercial Leases and Acquisitions: Serving the Unique Needs of Real Estate Investors and Users," (CTCAR - CLE) Instructor, Austin, TX, July 17, 2008
• "Joint Venture Investing," NAREIM (National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers), Senior Officer Asset/Portfolio Management Discussion Forum, Chicago, IL, April 14, 2008
• "Four Things Lawyers Should Know About the Margin Tax," Texas Lawyer, February 18, 2008
• "Effective Management of Corporate Real Estate Portfolios," CCIM/IREM Success Series 2007, San Antonio, TX, October 19, 2007
• "Protecting and Attacking Exclusive Use Provisions in Retail Leases," Commercial Leasing Law & Strategy, June 2007
• "Recent Developments in Real Estate Law," International Council of Shopping Center Law Conference, Orlando, FL, October 2006
• "How Smart Tenants Lease Brownfields," Commercial Leasing Law & Strategy, February 2005
• "Recent Developments in Real Estate Law," International Council of Shopping Center Law Conference, Orlando, FL, October 2006

1983 - J.D., Emory University School of Law
1976 - M.S., Special Education: Educational & Diagnostic Testing, Vanderbilt University
1975 - B.S., Biology, College of William and Mary

Jane is admitted to practice law in Texas, Georgia and Missouri.

Jane enjoys spending time with her husband and three children. Outside of work, Smith is dedicated to providing housing for people with disabilities and low incomes, and she is a Stephen Minister, a layperson providing care for people in and around the congregation as a part of a non-denominational program in all 50 U.S. states, 10 Canadian provinces and 23 other countries.

• Georgia
• Missouri
• Texas

• "Fight SMA," a foundation supporting medical research for spinal muscular atrophy, Board Member (1991 - 2009)
• United Way Law Section Women's Leadership Giving Program (1997 - 2013)