Chris McDonagh
Mr. McDonagh advises and represents clients in real estate, financing and business transactions in Arizona, California and Mexico, and related litigation in Arizona. He is admitted to practice law in Arizona (since 1996) and California (since 1994, currently inactive), and works closely with Mexican lawyers with respect to Mexican legal issues and transactions.
His real estate practice includes commercial and residential real estate acquisitions and sales, leases, financing, development, and zoning and land use. His business practice includes forming and advising business entities (corporations, LLCs, and partnerships), advising investors, and reviewing, drafting and negotiating contracts for businesses and individuals. His financing practice includes having served as counsel to borrowers, lenders, issuers, underwriters, guarantors, and trustees, or as bond counsel, in taxable and tax-exempt financings totaling more than $750,000,000.
Mr. McDonagh is a member of the Financial, Business and Legal Services Committee of the Arizona-Mexico Commission. Prior to coming to Tucson, he worked at law firms in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg and Los Angeles, California.
Mr. McDonagh can be reached at (520) 798-5233 or cmcdonagh@ravlaw.com.
Education
- University of Arizona College of Law (Tucson, Arizona), LL.M. International Trade Law, 2004
- Thesis: “Wedding Securitization of U.S. Loans for Mexican Residential Property with Securitization of Mexican Construction Bridge Loans – Something Old, Something New”
- University of Southern California Law Center (Los Angeles, California), J.D., 1994
- Associate Editor, Southern California Law Review, 1993-1994.
- Duke University (Durham, North Carolina), B.A., 1989 (Economics and Political Science)
- Summer Program at Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan, 1988
Publications
- What’s the Risk in Not Having a Mexican Title or Bank Trust Yet? Possibly Losing Your Entire Investment. Arizona International Legal Practice Journal, Issue 2 (February 2010)
- What’s the Risk in Not Having a Mexican Title or Bank Trust Yet? Possibly Losing Your Entire Investment, The Real Estate Law Journal of the State Bar of Arizona (Spring 2009)
- Luxembourg, Offshore Trusts: The Comparative Law Yearbook of International Business — Special Issue (1995)
- The Comparable Companies Valuation Technique, Mergers & Acquisitions (Sept./Oct. 1995)
Past Speaking Engagements
- Chairman and Speaker, “Current Issues in Arizona Real Estate,” State Bar of Arizona CLE By the Sea (Hotel del Coronado, Coronado Island, California), July 16, 2010
- Chairman and Speaker, “Current Issues in Mexican Real Estate,” State Bar of Arizona CLE By the Sea (Hotel del Coronado, Coronado Island, California), July 15, 2010
- Co-Chair and Speaker, “Current Issues in Mexican Real Estate,” State Bar of Arizona Real Property Section – Southern Counties (Arizona Inn, Tucson, Arizona), June 2009
- Co-Chair and Speaker, “Current Issues in Mexican Real Estate,” State Bar of Arizona Real Property Section (University Club, Phoenix, Arizona), March 2009
Teaching
- University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law (Tucson, Arizona), Adjunct Assistant Professor, Spring 2004, Fall 2004, Spring 2005
- Courses Taught: Legal Analysis, Research, and Writing (Law 603h) and Persuasive Communication (Law 653a)
Community Activities
- Director and Treasurer, Continental Reserve Blocks 2 and 3 Homeowners Association (2004-05)
- Director, Young Lawyers Division of the Pima County Bar Association (1998-2003)
- Co-Chair, Community Law Week (Young Lawyers Division of the PCBA) (1999-2002)
- Volunteer, Habitat for Humanity and United Housing Project (1997-2002)
- Volunteer, Beacon Foundation Pro Bono Guardianship Program (1999, 2000, 2003)
- Volunteer, Lawyers for Literacy (1998-2000)
- Tucson Lacrosse Club (2001-2005)