Jackson Walker partners Michael Kuhn and Vytas Petrulis have been appointed to the Green Lease Task Force created by the American Bar Association's Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law ("RPTE"). The Task Force is comprised of leading leasing attorneys around the country.

The goal of the Task Force is to produce written materials on green leasing issues concerning office, retail and industrial leases for presentation at RPTE's Spring Symposia on May 6-7, 2010, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In addition, the Task Force's written materials will be published in various periodicals published by the American Bar Association.

Both Mr. Kuhn and Mr. Petrulis have extensive experience representing clients in leasing their office portfolios. In view of this expertise, both are contributing to the preparation of articles relating to green leasing issues encountered in the office lease context.

Mr. Kuhn focuses on commercial real estate, with a particular emphasis on office and retail leasing. In his 30 years of practice in Houston commercial real estate, he has handled all types of real estate acquisition, disposition, development, and leasing matters. He routinely drafts and negotiates commercial leases and advises clients on complex leasing issues and strategies. Mr. Kuhn is Board Certified in Commercial Real Estate Law and is included in the 2008-2010 editions of The Best Lawyers in America under Real Estate Law, and he was listed in the 2005-2007 editions of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business. He was recently recognized by the firm's client, Crescent Real Estate Equities, as the Houston Center "Service Provider of the Year" for his efforts in assisting Crescent in the leasing of office space at Houston Center. Mr. Kuhn received his B.A., magna cum laude, from Duke University and his J.D. from University of Virginia School of Law.

Mr. Petrulis has represented institutional landlords and corporate tenants in office, industrial and retail leasing; real estate investment trusts (REITs), pension funds and opportunity funds in real estate acquisitions and dispositions including large, multi-state portfolio transactions; developers in real estate development projects including complex, mixed-use projects; and lenders and borrowers in commercial loan transactions. He is Board Certified in Commercial Real Estate Law. Mr. Petrulis was named as a "Rising Star" by Thomson Reuters for 2006, and he has also been named one of H Texas Magazine's "Houston Professionals on the Fast Track" and "Top Lawyers." Mr. Petrulis earned his B.A. degree from Rice University and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.