Ronald B. Grais is Of Counsel in Jenner & Block’s Chicago office and a member of its Real Estate and Climate and Clean Technology Law Practices. Mr. Grais is AV Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell’s highest peer recognition for ethical standards and legal ability.
Mr. Grais has extensive experience in all areas of real estate law, particularly as it relates to the development process. He concentrates his practice on zoning, tax increment financing and commercial and retail leasing. Mr. Grais has zoning experience that includes mixed-use residential/office and retail planned developments, and regional shopping centers in metropolitan Chicago and throughout the country. Mr. Grais represents developers, landlords, tenants and occasionally community groups in his real estate law practice. He has served as Special Redevelopment Counsel, representing the Illinois cities of Des Plaines and St. Charles. In addition to his law practice, Mr. Grais has been an active real estate developer for more than 20 years and has been responsible for more than a dozen projects, including shopping centers, office buildings and multi-family residential projects.
Mr. Grais has addressed legal and real-estate professionals on the subject of downtown redevelopment at national conferences, including the Urban Land Institute National Convention, the International Downtown Association National Conference, the Urban Mass Transit Agency National Symposium, and the International Council of Shopping Centers/HUD Conference on Centralized Retail Management.
Mr. Grais is the recipient of the 2006 W.F. Faulkes Award by the National Rehabilitation Association Awards Committee which recognizes Mr. Grais' contribution to the rehabilitation profession. Mr. Grais is also the recipient of the 2006 Citizen Community Rehabilitation Service Award, a Chicago and State of Illinois honor.
Mr. Grais is a Director, Officer and committee member of Thresholds, the nation’s foremost psychiatric rehabilitation agency, and serves as President of Thresholds Rehabilitation Industries. Mr. Grais is a Director of the Housing Opportunity Development Corporation, a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, and a member of the Lambda Alpha International Honorary Land Economics Society. He has served as a Commissioner and Vice Chairman for State of Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission, and is a former Commissioner of the Winnetka Plan Commission. Mr. Grais is a member of the Corporate Realty, Design & Management Institute's Model Green Lease Task Force, and speaks and writes on subjects related to Green Development and Green Leasing.
Mr. Grais received his undergraduate degree in 1965 from Cornell University and his J.D. degree in 1968 from the University of Chicago, where he served as Associate Editor of the University of Chicago Law Review.
Mr. Grais is admitted to practice in Illinois and is a member of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He is a member of the Chicago Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association.