James Weiner is a shareholder in the Philadelphia office of Lavin O’Neil Ricci Cedrone & DiSipio and chair of its Business and Financial Services Group. In more than 38 years of practice, Mr. Weiner has represented regional and national clients in business and corporate transactions involving mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, contract negotiations, and shareholder and employment matters.

Mr. Weiner also represents local and national non profit organizations, and real estate clients in acquisitions, sales, financing, construction and development. He counsels privately owned businesses on the legal aspects of their business operations.

In his practice, Mr. Weiner represents clients in a range of industries:

· Vegetation Management Company:

Representing the world’s leading vegetation management company, a privately owned business serving utilities and municipalities throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with respect to asset and stock purchase acquisitions, divestiture of subsidiaries, and real estate and financing transactions. These included the sale of its underground utility locating subsidiary to a private equity firm involving cash consideration at closing, contingent earnout payments and partial equity ownership in the purchasing entity. Divestiture involved negotiation of stock purchase, shareholder, registration rights, and subordination agreements. Closed two acquisitions of this scope concurrently.

· Non profit:

Representing a university-affiliated, international religious organization in obtaining private revenue bond financing for construction of facilities at its preparatory school and negotiated terms of purchase, sale and leases with respect to several of the organization’s real estate holdings.

Serving as outside general counsel to the nation’s largest medical specialty organization, with more than 100,000 members. Handling contracts, by-law revisions, employment matters and other operating issues.

· Financial Services:

Representing the global financial services affiliate of the firm’s largest automotive client with respect to working capital and real estate financing and bankruptcy and workout matters; negotiated one of the largest real estate mortgage and working capital loans made to one automotive group in the company’s history.

Mr. Weiner graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania where he received the Accounting Department’s CPA award, and earned his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and Florida. Mr. Weiner is a member of the American and Pennsylvania bar associations and during the first 17 years of his practice had been an assistant professor of accounting at Philadelphia Community College.