Nika B. Palama

Nika Palama is special counsel in the Corporate Practice Group in the firm's Chicago office.

Areas of Practice

Nika advises clients on corporate and real estate matters, with a particular focus on the hospitality industry. Nika's corporate practice focuses on advising both private and public companies in transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, corporate governance, the formation and operation of business entities, and EB-5 project finance. Her real estate practice focuses on commercial real estate development throughout the U.S., including sales and acquisitions, lending and finance, leasing and development. In the hospitality sector, Nika has experience negotiating management agreements, food and beverage leases, and other operations contracts. In her EB-5 practice, Nika advises developers, regional centers and other industry intermediaries on corporate/securities matters related to EB-5 investor offerings in a wide variety of industries.

Nika also serves as co-leader of the firm’s Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) Task Force, assisting clients with all aspects of the CTA reporting analysis and compliance for various entity organizations and ownership structures.

Nika is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Michigan Law School. Prior to attending law school, Nika earned a degree in Higher Education Administration and Policy from Northwestern University.

Experience

Representative Engagements

• Represented affiliate of HomeFed Corporation in $125 million EB-5 offering
• Represented Oxford Capital Partners, LLC, in multiple acquisitions and sales of hotel properties as well as ongoing hotel development and operational matters, including for:
  • Godfrey Hotel, Detroit, Michigan
  • Westin Book Cadillac, Detroit, Michigan
  • 5 Hotel Portfolio in San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Los Gatos, California
  • 4 Hotel Portfolio in San Francisco, California
  • Godfrey Hotel Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
  • LondonHouse Hotel, Chicago, Illinois
  • Godfrey Hotel, Chicago, Illinois
  • Chicago Athletic Association (CAA) Hotel, Chicago, Illinois
• Represented JMI Realty in successful EB-5 financing of the Kimpton Hotel Van Zandt in Austin, Texas
• Represented ZMC Hotels in sale of 29 limited service hotels to Hall Equities Group
• Represented Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) on $625 million high-yield debt offering
• Represented OmniForce, LLC, in multiple roll-up acquisitions of race events and a cross-border acquisition of event production company
• Represented OmniForce, LLC, in sale of for-profit race business

Honors

Ones to Watch — Corporate Law, Best Lawyers, 2021-2025

Articles

Corporate & Securities Law Blog Posts

• "The Return of the CTA: FinCEN Confirms that Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirements are Back in Effect with a New Deadline of March 21, 2025," February 20, 2025
• "FinCEN Confirms that CTA Filings Remain Optional Despite Supreme Court Ruling," January 27, 2025 
• "Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Vacates Its Own Stay Rendering the Corporate Transparency Act Unenforceable . . . Again," January 3, 2025
• "Texas Federal District Court Issues Preliminary Injunction on CTA Nationwide; Department of Justice Appeals," December 12, 2024
• "The Corporate Transparency Act: What You Need to Know Ahead of the January 1, 2025 Deadline," November 14, 2024

Media Mentions