Jennifer L. Wilson joined Manulife in 2011 and is Associate Chief Counsel in the North American Investment Law group. Based in Boston, Wilson is responsible for management of the real estate legal team that includes: acquisition and disposition of assets, financing, leasing, the structuring of separate accounts and discretionary funds.

She has acted as primary workout and restructuring counsel for Manulife’s commercial mortgage portfolio in the US and Canada and has helped originate some of the portfolio’s largest or most sophisticated loans. Wilson has helped structure and effect a variety of investment vehicles and joint ventures to invest in real estate across the US and Canada.

Wilson supports many aspects of Manulife’s global real estate practice in both debt and equity and for the company’s general investment account and for third party investors. She helped structure and execute a vehicle to permit life insurance subsidiaries in Asia to invest in real estate across Asia and Australia. Additionally, she has acted as primary acquisition counsel for a publicly-traded REIT in Singapore that invests in US properties.

Prior to joining the company, Wilson worked for six years at the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in the New York office. She holds degrees from both the UCLA School of Law and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

In addition to a stellar legal career, Wilson also worked for the United Nations Missions in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo as part of the civil administration and the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague.

It’s for these reasons that we named Jennifer Wilson to our inaugural grouping of Lawyers in Real Estate. These are real estate attorneys who have distinguished themselves in both their practice and the larger community.

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