Kevin L. Shepherd
Kevin is a national leader in numerous bar organizations. He is the immediate past treasurer of the American Bar Association (ABA), the largest voluntary organization of attorneys and legal professionals in the world. Kevin is the first Venable partner to serve as an officer of the ABA and is only the third Maryland lawyer in the last century to serve as an ABA officer. Kevin is a past president of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, an invitation-only organization that is the premier organization of U.S. real estate lawyers. He has also chaired the ABA Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section, one of the largest substantive sections within the ABA. Kevin is currently the treasurer of the American Bar Endowment (ABE) and chairs its finance committee. The ABE is a not-for-profit public charity that sponsors high-quality, affordable life and disability insurance for ABA members.
Kevin is managing director of finance and chair of Venable's Finance Committee, which oversees the firm's financial operations, policies, and procedures. He chaired Venable's Real Estate Practice Group for 12 years. Kevin is a prolific author and speaker (both domestically and internationally) on commercial real estate matters, including the role of the legal profession in detecting and preventing money laundering and terrorist financing in business transactions.
Experience
Representative Matters
- Arranged the purchase and sale of a premier Baltimore office tower, located at 100 East Pratt Street
- Aided in the development of the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel and 750 East Pratt Street, the first office tower to be built in Baltimore's Inner Harbor after 2000
- Brokered the sale of the corporate world headquarters campus of Life Technologies, Inc.
- Represented a GE subsidiary in drafting and negotiating a long-term lease of its corporate headquarters facility – one of the largest lease transactions in Montgomery County, Maryland history
- Represents merchant power companies in the development of electrical generation facilities in Maryland
- Represents the nation’s premier, New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)-listed biotechnology real estate investment trust on acquisition, land use, financing, and leasing transactions
- Represents a major national REIT in real estate transactions involving acquisition and disposition of assets in New York City, Northern Virginia, Seattle, and San Francisco, including one of the largest single-building real estate transactions in New York City history
- Represented a national wildlife organization in the disposition of its significant land holding on Maryland’s Eastern Shore
- Represented a Maryland municipality in an urban town center redevelopment project valued at more than $350 million. The project entailed several retail, residential, and commercial condominium units; complex structured finance arrangements; and numerous cross-easement agreements. At the time, this project was considered Maryland's largest private real estate development project.
Insights
Credentials
Education
- J.D. magna cum laude University of Baltimore School of Law 1984
- Editor in-chief, University of Baltimore Law Review
- Who's Who of American Law Students
- Heuslier Honor Society
- B.A. magna cum laude Frostburg State College 1979
- National Honor Society in Pi Sigma Alpha (Political Science), Phi Alpha Theta (History)
Bar Admissions
- District of Columbia
- Maryland
Clerk Experience
- Honorable Harry A. Cole Supreme Court of Maryland (formerly the Court of Appeals of Maryland) 1984 - 1985
Professional Memberships and Activities
- Member, Anglo-American Real Property Institute
- Treasurer, American Bar Association
- Past chair, American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law; member, House of Delegates; chair, Task Force on Gatekeeper Regulation and the Profession; former member, Standing Committee on Publishing Oversight; past editor-in-chief, Probate & Property
- Served a two-year term on the Character Committee of the Court of Appeals of Maryland
- President, American College of Real Estate Lawyers
Recognition
- The Best Lawyers in America, 2008 – 2022, 2024 – 2025
- Lawyer of the Year, Real Estate Law, Baltimore, 2016, 2020, 2024
- Who’s Who Legal, Thought Leader, Real Estate, 2017 – 2018, 2024
- Martindale-Hubbell, AV® Peer Review Rated
- American Bar Association
- Excellence in Writing Award, Best Technology/Law Practice Management Article, 2013 (Received for an article in Probate & Property, the bimonthly magazine of the ABA Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law)
- Grassroots Advocacy Award, 2013
- Outstanding Chair Award, 2014
- International Who’s Who of Real Estate Lawyers, 2013 – 2014
- Most Highly Regarded Individuals, 2013 (Selected as one of only 10 attorneys worldwide)
- Legal 500, Real Estate, 2012
- Super Lawyers
- Real Estate, Baltimore, 2013
- Maryland, 2008 – 2018, 2021 – 2023
- Top 50 Attorneys, Maryland, 2009 – 2010
- Chambers USA
- Real Estate (Band 1), Maryland, 2005 – 2017, 2020 - 2024
- Real Estate (Band 2), Maryland, 2004
- Real Estate (Band 3), Maryland, 2003
- America’s Leading Lawyers, Real Estate
- The Daily Record, Leadership in Law Award, 2005
- Expert Guides, Construction and Real Estate, 2014