Jackson Walker announces the appointments of Dallas partners L. Suzan Kedron and C. Bradford Lowry as firmwide chairs of the Land Use and Real Estate practices, respectively.

“Bill Dahlstrom and Steve Martens have been instrumental in expanding our Land Use and Real Estate practices over the years. We are extremely grateful for their leadership,” said Managing Partner Wade Cooper. “As Suzan and Brad step into their roles, I look forward to seeing our firm continue to grow and be a leading firm in the state and around the nation for real estate law.”

In addition, the firm also announces that Austin partner Joshua A. Romero has been appointed Chair of the Paralegal Committee, which oversees the work of paralegals at Jackson Walker.

Meet Suzan

Suzan represents real estate developers, land owners, and public entities in a variety of land use and real estate development issues. She focuses on the following issues: zoning, development, planning, emerging technologies seeking municipal support/approval, due diligence, public private partnerships, economic development incentives, tax increment financing, green building, permitting, affordable housing, special districts, and litigation.

In addition to her new role as Chair of the Land Use practice, Suzan serves as the Chair of the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee. She is also the former Chair of the Dallas Business Development Committee. In recognition of her work, she has been named to the “Dallas 500” list by D CEO Magazine in 2019 and 2020, a DiversityFIRST™ Leadership Award Winner by the Texas Diversity Council in 2019, and among The Best Lawyers in America since 2013 for Land Use and Zoning Law.

“Real, effective change begins with a vision—whether that’s building up our cities to make them better for the people who live there or continuing to build on the work of former PG Chair Bill Dahlstrom,” Suzan stated. “Our group is expanding and taking on great work, and I’d like to see us continue on this trajectory. I would also like to see us bring in new talented attorneys and planners who reflect our clients and the communities we work with so that we can approach land use and zoning with a full-picture perspective.”

Outside of the firm, Suzan remains deeply involved in civic and community organizations, including the The Dallas Assembly, Dallas Citizens Council, Dallas Regional Chamber, Dallas Theater Center, Downtown Dallas Inc., McKinney Avenue Transit Authority, The Dallas Architecture Forum, The Real Estate Council, and the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth.

She obtained her B.A. in Architecture from Columbia College/University and her J.D. from South Texas College of Law Houston, where she acquired designation as a LEED Green Associate.

Meet Brad

Board Certified in Commercial Real Estate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, Brad has more than 30 years of experience handling a wide variety of complex commercial real estate transactions for clients ranging from local investors to REITs and other public companies in various capacities, including developers, owners, lenders, buyers, sellers, borrowers, landlords, tenants, equity investors and asset managers.

Upon his appointment as Real Estate Chair, Brad noted, “Steve Martens has done a superb job leading the Real Estate group at Jackson Walker the last few years. During his tenure our group has seen tremendous growth, and today we have one of the largest, most diverse, and overall best groups of real estate attorneys anywhere.” He added, “Among my goals as Real Estate Chair will be to see that our group continues to grow and evolve in innovative ways that allow us to always be cutting-edge in providing the absolute best service to our clients, while remaining a wonderful place to work for our people.”

A few highlights of Brad’s distinguished career that demonstrate his broad array of experience include having represented principals in the following transactions:  purchase and conversion to condominium of major downtown hotel/retail project; ground-up development of high-rise assisted living and mixed use project; 500,000 square foot airport ground lease; ground-up development of major mixed use high rise condominium project; acquisition, financing and development of 4,000+ acre residential and mixed-use project; acquisition of multi-state hotel portfolio; financing of 60,000 acre ranch; sale of 5,000 unit apartment portfolio; development and ground lease of recreational facility for large public university; major corporate headquarters office lease; and sale of Colorado ski resort.

Brad is active in his community, including as a member of the Dallas Bar Association’s Real Property Section, the Dallas Real Estate Council, the Urban Land Institute, and the Argyle Independent School District Board of Trustees. He has also served on the boards of the ULI Dallas-Fort Worth and Downtown Dallas, Inc., as Chairman of the Argyle Comprehensive Plan Committee, and as President of the Argyle Economic Development Corporation. He obtained his B.B.A. from Texas A&M University Commerce, his M.B.A. from Texas Christian University, and his J.D. from Baylor Law School.

Meet Josh

Josh is a trial lawyer who has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts across the country in complex commercial litigation and First Amendment litigation. Josh has successfully tried cases ranging from multimillion-dollar corporate disputes and consumer fraud cases to construction cases. In 2015, he assisted his clients in obtaining the largest settlement in Texas and the fourth largest settlement in the United States, as featured in the National Law Journal. He is nationally ranked by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and named among The Best Lawyers in America for Appellate Law, one of Austin’s Top Attorneys for Commercial Litigation, and a Texas Super Lawyer.

“It is an honor to support the firm’s paralegals as the committee chair,” Josh said. “In every case I have worked on, our paralegals have played a critical role. They are the backbone of each team and keep things running effectively and efficiently.”

Meet JW

Since Jackson Walker’s founding in 1887, our attorneys have represented some of the most influential companies and business leaders in the world. Today, we remain firmly rooted in Texas while serving clients around the globe. With more than 450 attorneys across seven offices, we are the largest firm in Texas and have been recognized by Law360 as a “Texas Powerhouse” and an “elite law firm” that regularly provides counsel to industry-leading clients on highly complex transactions ranging from millions to billions.