Darryl L. Steinhause

Steinhause continues to be a step ahead of the competition when it comes to advising clients on tax and securities matters in real estate capital markets.

He was lead securities and tax counsel for the first real estate investment trust that obtained qualification from the Securities and Exchange Commission for an offering to be sold through the broker-dealer industry in 2016. As part of the transaction, Steinhause created a unique joint-venture structure between the issuer and the sponsor which provided the sponsor with a product that addressed recent Financial Industry Regulatory Authority changes in policy.

The DLA Piper partner, who previously conceived the legal structure for the modern tenant in common transactions, said pursuing innovation has always been central to his work.

"The things I've been successful on, I was thinking outside of the box," Steinhause said.

He acknowledged that "being one of the pioneers is always tougher than the person who comes in after the path has been created."

Steinhause was also securities and tax counsel with respect to the offering of $4.35 million in beneficial interests in a Delaware statutory trust that acquired an office building located in Chicago.

He was instrumental in structuring the statutory trust so the trust qualifies as an investment trust for federal income tax purposes.

The structure allows the statutory trust to treat the beneficial interests acquired in the trust as underlying assets, thereby permitting it to qualify as like-kind property for purposes of Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Steinhause said having an MBA in finance, as well as an accounting degree, has served him well.

"I think that business approach to law is what the clients like," he said.

— Lyle Moran