CLEVELAND, April 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ketan K. Patel, who has 17 years of experience as an attorney and business advisor, has joined McDonald Hopkins as a Member in the Business Department's Real Estate Practice. Since 2005, Patel has served as associate general counsel at DDR Corp., a national real estate company and publically-traded REIT.

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In his role at DDR, Patel led the Corporate & Transaction Group where he was responsible for many aspects of DDR's acquisitions and dispositions, capital markets transactions, new business development, real estate development and re-development, joint ventures, international operations, and tax matters. Patel's wide-ranging experience includes executing over $10 billion in corporate and real estate acquisitions and private equity investment fund formations, administering the sale of more than 100 shopping center properties and overseeing legal and compliance for international operations.

Earlier, Patel served as vice president and general counsel at BioEnterprise Corporation, where he evaluated health care and IT start-ups, and advised medical device, pharmaceutical and biomedical companies. At McKinsey & Company, Patel counseled senior executives and boards on strategic and organizational issues. Patel is returning to McDonald Hopkins where he started his career in 1995.

"Ketan is an outstanding fit for McDonald Hopkins," said Charles B. Zellmer, chair of the firm's Business Department. "He further strengthens our expertise and depth in the key areas of business resurgence that we are seeing throughout our footprint in real estate transactions and private equity investment, as well as in the REIT and developer community. Ketan has a wealth of experience in all of these sectors." Patel received a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1995 and graduated cum laude from Princeton University in 1992 with a B.S.E. in electrical engineering. 

Ketan Patel can be reached at 216.348.5424 or kpatel@mcdonaldhopkins.com.

About McDonald Hopkins LLC

McDonald Hopkins is a business advisory and advocacy law firm with a more than 80-year history. The firm has 140 attorneys in six offices—Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Miami, and West Palm Beach. The president of McDonald Hopkins is Carl J. Grassi. For more information about McDonald Hopkins, visit www.mcdonaldhopkins.com.

CONTACT:
Deborah W. Kelm
McDonald Hopkins LLC
600 Superior Avenue, East, Suite 2100
Cleveland, Oh 44114
Phone: 216.348.5733
Email: dkelm@mcdonaldhopkins.com

SOURCE McDonald Hopkins LLC