Stephen B. Huttler
Senior Partner

Mr. Huttler is Pillsbury's Senior Partner as well as a practicing business lawyer.

Among his duties as Senior Partner is the oversight of the firm's international activities and the expansion of its global capabilities. He heads the firm's India and Middle Eastern practices. He launched the firm's offices in Abu Dhabi, Shanghai and Taipei.  He also manages the firm's affiliations with foreign law firms and oversees the firm's market-leading Japan practice.

Prior to Shaw Pittman's merger with Pillsbury Winthrop in 2005, Mr. Huttler was Shaw Pittman's Managing Partner (chief executive officer).  In that capacity, he architected the merger with Pillsbury Winthrop thus helping to create one of the leading law firms in the nation. Following the merger, he served as Executive Vice Chair and a member of the Executive Team of the combined firm until his recent appointment to the Firm Senior Partner position.

Mr. Huttler has over three decades of experience as a business lawyer advising on complex business transactions, representation of overseas investors, and handling of business disputes. He has extensive experience dealing with distressed situations, and has deep real estate experience. He has become a trusted strategic adviser to local, national and international clients, bringing together his experience both as a business lawyer and as a business executive.

In addition to his law firm leadership experience, Mr. Huttler served for two years as the Chairman of the Board of Carl M. Freeman Associates, Inc., a Maryland-based regional developer of resort communities and neighborhood shopping centers.  He assumed this position following the untimely death of the company's principal shareholder, and led the company through a "perfect storm" of challenges to its successful position today.

Mr. Huttler additionally has substantial experience serving on the Boards of Directors of important for-profit and not-for-profit enterprises. He served for over ten years on the Boards and Executive Teams at Shaw Pittman and Pillsbury. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Washington National Opera, one of the leading opera companies in the nation, and also serves as the Vice President and Treasurer of the WNO. He has served on the boards of foundations, non-profit service organizations, and a private secondary school. He is a long-time trustee of the Joshua M. Freeman Foundation.

He has also served as the Court-appointed Guardian for the disabled widow of a prominent Maryland businessman; the Executor of the Estate of a prominent real estate developer; and a trustee under various wills and trusts involving significant assets. These appointments reflect Mr. Huttler's role as a trusted advisor to his clients.

Examples of the matters that Mr. Huttler has handled for clients include the following:

Complex business transactions

• Represented a regional bank in connection with a proposed bank merger.

• Represented a Saudi engineering firm in connection with a major joint venture with a British firm involving development of refineries in Saudi Arabia.

• Represented the Washington National Opera in connection with its entry into an Affiliation Agreement with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

• Represented a regional bank in connection with a major shareholder investment in the bank.

• Represented Fannie Mae in connection with dozens of affordable housing transactions across the nation.

Distressed transactions

• Represented Bank of America (through predecessor banks) in workouts of over 50 loans involving in excess of $1 billion.

• Represented foreign investor in a failing New Zealand joint venture involving development of a national historic site.

• Represented of the bidders on, and acquirers of, several pools of defaulted real estate loans, as well as numerous real estate assets, from the RTC and the FDIC.

• Handled the disposition of nonperforming loans on behalf of both borrowers and lenders, including office, retail, residential and industrial properties.

• Represented a major venture capital investor in a failing Internet tee-time booking company.

Representation of foreign investors

• Represented Indian investors in U.S. capital markets.

• Represented a party involved in the development of extensive residential "townships" in India.

• Represented Saudi investors in U.S. commercial office properties.

• Represented European investors in U.S. ranch and agricultural properties. At one point, Mr. Huttler's clients were among the largest owners of farm land in Georgia.

Disputes and dispute resolution

• Represented a senior foreign government official in connection with litigation filed in the U.S. alleging crimes against humanity.

• Specifically brought into a number of pending litigations to help client find a way to reach a settlement.

• Advised in connection with several significant joint venture disputes.

Real Estate transactions

• Handled the assemblage of hundreds of acres of land for the development of a Delaware resort community.
• Advised a Canadian corporation in connection with the acquisition of several major mixed-use land parcels in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

• Advised in connection the largest ground leased condominium development in Delaware.

• Handled all aspects of shopping center acquisition, disposition, exchange, financing and refinancing.

• Represented buyers and sellers in dozens of purchases and sales of commercial office buildings.

• Represented landlords and tenants in dozens of commercial lease transactions.

Speaking Engagements

Knowledge Congress on Industry, Infrastructure & Energy, panel speaker, Asian Business Leadership Forum, October 2012

Honors & Awards

• International Council of Jurists, International Council of Jurists Award (2012)

Affiliations
American Bar Association, American Bar Association - International Division, International Bar Association, Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate, International Council of Shopping Centers, Urban Land Institute

Courts
U.S. Supreme Court