Richard Allin Frank
Senior Counsel
Areas of Focus
- Real Estate
- Corporate & Finance
- Joint Ventures & Strategic Alliances
- Leveraged Finance
- Project Acquisition & Disposition
- Project Debt & Equity Finance
- More than 15 years serving as senior in-house lawyer at major corporations.
- Deep corporate real estate experience.
Richard Frank has extensive real estate experience from both his law firm practice and his in-house corporate practice. His real estate experience includes representing purchasers, sellers, lenders, landlords and tenants in a wide variety of transactions, both in Texas and across the country.
Richard handles matters involving the purchase, sale, financing, refinancing, foreclosure, debt restructuring, management and leasing of:
- Restaurants
- Hotels
- Shopping centers
- Office buildings
- Multifamily projects
- Industrial properties
- Manufacturing facilities
- Raw land.
Prior to joining Akin, Richard served more than eight years as the senior vice president, legal of a major publicly-traded retailer and franchisor with more than 9,100 store locations in the United States and 24 foreign countries. He also spent more than seven years as the general counsel of a privately-held international restaurant company and franchisor with more than 750 restaurant locations in the United States and 16 foreign countries.
In each of these positions, Mr. Frank advised the senior management and boards of his clients and gained significant experience in handling the legal aspects of numerous corporate, real estate, finance, franchise, marketing, distribution, intellectual property, litigation, technology, and labor and employment matters.
- Represented a publicly-traded retailer in connection with the sale-leaseback of its Memphis, Tennessee corporate headquarters, distribution center and retail training facility containing over 1 million square feet of office, warehouse and retail space.
- Advised a publicly-traded energy company in connection with its acquisition, financing and leasing of two 14-story office-buildings located in Midland, Texas.
- Assisted a private equity investor in financing transactions with various lenders totaling approximately $100 million and involving over 100 properties across the United States.
- Advised a technology company with respect to the negotiation of a lease of approximately 64,000 square feet of office space for its corporate headquarters in Richardson, Texas.
- Represented a developer in the negotiation of a ground lease for a 418 bed student housing project located in Clemson, South Carolina, as well as the subsequent development and construction financing for the project.
EducationJ.D., Duke University School of Law, with high honors, 1986
B.A., Cornell University, cum laude, 1983
J.D., Duke University School of Law, with high honors, 1986
B.A., Cornell University, cum laude, 1983
Bar AdmissionsTexas
Texas
- Member, Dallas Bar Association.