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Dorothea W. Dickerman

Partner

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Practices
Industries
Education
  • The University of Chicago Law School, JD, 1983
  • Amherst College, BA, summa cum laude, 1980
Admissions
  • District of Columbia
  • Virginia
  • District of Columbia Court of Appeals
  • U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
  • Supreme Court of Virginia
Affiliations

Member, District of Columbia Bar Association

Member, Virginia Bar Association

Vice Chair, Retail Leasing Committee, American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trusts and Estate Law

Area Representative, Northern Region, Real Property Section, Virginia State Bar

Member, National Association of Women Lawyers

Member, TheWharton Club of Washington, DC

Member, Commerical Real Estate Women

Print

Dorothea is co-chair of the firm's distressed real estate practice group and head of the firm’s transactional real estate lawyers for the firm's Washington, D.C. and Tysons Corner offices. She has more than 25 years' experience handling the full range of commercial real estate law, real estate leasing and ground leasing and real estate finance issues including development projects, acquisitions and dispositions, leases, debt and equity financings, workouts, foreclosures and restructurings both in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and nationally. She represents lenders, local and national developers, individual businesses and REITs.

She regularly provides counsel on sophisticated mixed-use projects from inception of the transaction through closing. She advises several major companies and hotel owners on their acquisitions, dispositions, workouts and financings. She often works with clients on residential and commercial condominium projects.

She has extensive leasing experience representing landlords and tenants in commercial leasing, negotiating retail, restaurant, shopping center, hospitality, office, stadium and industrial leases and ground leases.

A former commercial real estate agent, Dorothea creates practical business and legal solutions for all types of developed and undeveloped real property assets.

vCard
T: +1 703 712 5387F: +1 703 712 5242ddickerman@mcguirewoods.com1750 Tysons Boulevard
Suite 1800
Tysons Corner, VA 22102-4215
T: +1 202 857 1721F: +1 202 857 17372001 K Street N.W.
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20006-1040

Negotiation of a permanent loan with a pension fund secured by a Washington, D.C., landmark 394-room luxury hotel, a 218,635-square-foot first-class office building, and a 24,770-square-foot retail building.

Negotiation of a permanent loan for a borrower for a 1,034,772-square-foot Washington, D.C. office complex.

Real estate representation of a division of a Fortune 100 company in the $2 billion sale of that company's worldwide assets.

Representation of a consortium of purchasers in a ground lease acquisition bid for the $10 billion World Trade Center in New York City.

Representation of a Fortune 100 company in its leasing worldwide.

Representation of a Washington, D.C. Class A owner as landlord in office and retail leasing throughout Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

Representation of a European seller in the sale of a 4,000-acre site in Prince William County, Virginia. After that transaction closed, Dorothea was hired by the opposing party purchaser for the development and contract sales work for its development at the site.

Representation of a major hotel REIT in connection with its nationwide restaurant portfolio.

Representation of the lead lender in a redevelopment loan in Baltimore for the Montgomery Park site. The deal included seven layers of debt and grants and 27 interlocking entities.

Representation of major national and regional lending institutions with pre-workout and pre-foreclosure review of loan documents and title and claims issues; delivery of analysis and readying project for foreclosure/deed in lieu or note sale; condominium association and HOA issues; lease review and addressing defaulted tenants; preparation for post-foreclosure stabilization for residential, commercial, mixed use, office, retail, industrial, hospitality projects and portfolios.

Representation of national lender in forbearance and workout of multi-parcel urban portfolio of prominent developer.

Representation of investor/developer in mezzanine loans and restructuring of residential developments.

Representation of various investment banks in designing and drafting LIBOR-based swap documentation for programs with Fannie Mae and real estate backed securities.

Counsel to individual guarantor to avoid bankruptcy and personal liability in connection with a variety of defaulted real estate loans; the largest single loan in the amount of $145 million.

Representation of a national mid-market lender in connection with a wide range of foreclosures, restructurings and creditors' rights matters in an extensive portfolio of troubled loans in multiple jurisdictions.

Direction and evaluation for a Japanese bank regarding all underwriting decisions for finance of two occupied office buildings in Washington, D.C., for a loan between the bank and the bank's Japanese client. The project involved not only assimilation of Japanese business customs, but also bridging gap between those customs, U.S. real estate lending practice and the OCC.

Analysis and negotiation of a highly political and complex joint venture and service contract between a Washington, D.C. nonprofit service provider and national nonprofit organization in response to U.S. Department of Agriculture grant funding housing for mothers and boarder babies.

Negotiation of billions of dollars of diverse contracts: purchase and sale, financing, workouts, development, environmental, executive employment, parking, management, leasing, brokerage and commission agreements, and marketing.

Coordination and guidance of the negotiation of two Fortune 500 companies in the purchase and sale of a research facility for a confidential multibillion-dollar government defense contract.

Selected for inclusion in America's Leading Lawyers for Business, Real Estate, Virginia, Chambers USA, 2009-2013

Named to "Virginia Super Lawyers," Real Estate, Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters, 2013

Named to "Legal Elite," 2007-2012; Profiled for Real Estate/Land Use, 2012, Virginia Business

Finalist, Top Washington Lawyers, Real Estate Transactions, Washington Business Journal, 2008

AV Rated, Martindale-Hubbell

Author, "Subleasing: More Than Meets The Eye," Law360, April 27, 2012
Author, "Navigating Commercial Real Estate Closings (Parts 1 and 2)," ALI-ABA's The Practical Real Estate Lawyer, Volume 26, Number 2, March 2010, and Volume 26, Number 3, May 2010
Co-author, "Tenants' Rights in the Event of Landlord's Bankruptcy," Retail Law Strategist, June 2009
Author, "Limited Liability Companies Proposed for Downtown Washington Businesses," Washington Real Estate Journal, 1990
Panelist, "Nuts and Bolts of Leasing: How Are Retail Leases Different From Office Leases?," American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust and Estates Law Webinar, October 2011
Panelist, "Special Needs Lease Transfer Clauses: The Answers to Your Questions," 2011 Spring Symposia for the American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law, April 29, 2011
Lecturer, "Commercial Lease Assignments and Subleases: Negotiation Strategies in a Troubled Market," Strafford Publications, 2010
Lecturer, "Real Estate Closings A-Z: Navigate Your Closings with Confidence," National Business Institute, 2009