Resume for General Counsel or Chief Legal Executive with a Business Perspective

1. CHARLIE HARRISON
328 Gregory M. Sears Drive
Gilberts, Illinois 60136
Business: (224) 238-7557 cjh@stjosephllc.com Cell: (312) 560-7148
LEGAL EXECUTIVE PROFILE
Legal executive with MBA based business perspective who thrives in using the law and business
judgment to create value out of challenges. Broad experience in public company transactions, operations
and liquidation, multi-tasking critical issues and being the company face. Expertise includes:
 Corporate governance and Secretary for the  Managing non-legal internal departments
Board of Directors of a public company  Selecting and managing outside counsel and
 SEC periodic reporting with contingent litigation professional consultants
and environmental liability reserve estimation  Real estate contracting, sales and disposition
 Complex litigation management  Environmental remediation management
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
St. Joseph Group, LLC Chicago, IL 2007 – Present
Sole proprietor consulting firm
President
Counsel for CMC Heartland Partners Liquidating Trust for litigation, claims, sales, title, environmental and
fiber optics issues. Client based commercial real estate transaction and deal origination. Consultant for
the acquisition of non-performing commercial real estate loans and distressed multi-family projects.
CMC HEARTLAND PARTNERS Chicago, IL 2002 – 2007
Publicly traded master limited real estate partnership holding 13,000 acres of railroad property
General Counsel, Senior Vice President Real Estate, and Secretary
Recruited by CEO to stabilize and eventually liquidate the Company. Appointed corporate Secretary and
Senior Vice President of the in house real estate sales department.
 Primary lead in directing the liquidation of a publicly traded company with 13,000 acres of
railroad property. Directed all litigation necessary to resolve outstanding claims. Set real estate
sales strategy and supervised all in-house real estate sales. Selected and managed all outside
counsel, consultants and engineers.
 Conceived and implemented strategies to resolve 30+ environmental properties or claims as
part of the portfolio liquidation. Reduced liability by 87% for owned environmental site with
initial agency demanded remediation costs equal to 16 times the property’s market value by a
combination of litigation with a prior polluter, new sales contract, brown field grant funding, and
negotiation with the regulatory agency.
 Supervised the sale of 142 acres adjacent to Miller Stadium (Milwaukee, WI) in lieu of
condemnation with a negotiated quick-take value of $30,000 an acre for flood plain property
with railroad-caused environmental conditions. Conceived and implemented strategy to appeal
the quick-take value with final appraised value in excess of $100,000 an acre.
 Motivated de-moralized real estate department to grow annual sales and cash flow 32% by
changing the compensation structure and the department culture.
 Prepared Legal Proceedings section of forms 10-Q and 10-K reports. Directed the preparation
and documentation of environmental and litigation reserves.
 Acted as the face of the company in public meetings with federal and state environmental
agencies, municipal zoning departments and community groups. Responded to press inquiries.
 Made status presentations and recommendations to the Board of Directors on legal and
business matters including liquidation of the company and personal liability of the Board
members. As Secretary to the Board, provided meeting notices and agenda, prepared all
resolutions and meeting minutes.

2. CHARLIE HARRISON Page Two
POWER MART REAL ESTATE CORPORATION Oakbrook, IL 2001 – 2002
Real estate subsidiary for convenience store chain start up
President
Recruited by the owner of a 2,000-member convenience store buying cooperative to do ground-up
development of a new convenience store chain. Negotiated the company’s first banking line of credit. In
only 7 months, recruited and led a team of architects and engineers which applied for and received PUD
approval for construction of a 42,000 square foot company headquarters.
CMC HEARTLAND PARTNERS Chicago, IL 1990 – 2001
Publicly traded master limited real estate partnership holding 21,000 acres of railroad property
General Counsel 1999 – 2001
Associate General Counsel 1994 – 1998
Senior Counsel 1990 – 1994
Leveraged initial real estate counsel duties to achieve consistent promotions with increasing business
responsibility for all litigation management, environmental matters, real estate sales and closings, leasing
and property management for a portfolio of 21,000 acres of former railroad property.
 Directed litigation strategy and selected outside counsel and litigation experts in commercial,
real estate, environmental, bankruptcy, and personal injury disputes. Personally settled more
than 20 suits.
 Closed more than 90 environmental sites by creative combinations of sales to third parties,
remediation or litigation.
 Developed the Company’s first GAAP environmental contingency estimate and reserve
process. Prepared quarterly environmental and litigation reserves with annual presentation to
outside auditors. Prepared Legal Proceedings section of forms 10-Q and 10-K reports.
 Directed rezoning of 163 acre parcel from farmland to 860 unit residential, over the objections of
the local Indiana tribe, increasing the value from $500,000 to $12 million. Set strategy and
direction for Environmental Impact Statement, preliminary plat approval, and permit
applications. Conducted impact mitigation negotiations. Recruited and directed a team of civil
engineers, hydro-geologists, wetland experts, fisheries biologists, traffic engineers,
archeologists, environmental consultants, and outside counsel.
 Supervised paralegals conducting 100 to 150 annual closings totaling between $3 million to $6
million in sales. Supervised a 250+ real estate lease portfolio.
LEVIN & FUNKHOUSER, LTD. Chicago, IL 1988 – 1990
General practice law firm
Associate
Commercial property transactions and general litigation.
CHICAGO PACIFIC CORPORATION Chicago, IL 1982 – 1988
Fortune 300 holding company - successor to reorganized railroad
Title and Closing Officer
Negotiated and prepared real estate sales contracts and closing documents. Closed $250+ million in real
estate sales including a single transaction of $93 million covering 720 miles of railroad in 3 states and a
single sale of surface and mineral interests recorded in 325 counties.
EDUCATION
Executive MBA J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Evanston, IL 2004
JD, with honors IIT Chicago – Kent College of Law, Chicago, IL 1988
BA St. John’s College, Santa Fe, NM 1981
Professional development courses M.I.T. – Center for Real Estate, Cambridge, MA 2001