Robert E. Connolly
Partner in and Leader of Corporate Group
Corporate
Rob is a partner in and leader of Levenfeld Pearlstein’s Corporate Group and has been with the firm since its inception.
Rob works with buyers, sellers, investors and operators of privately-held businesses throughout the company’s life-cycle. He helps his clients strategize, structure, negotiate, and close complex business transactions for a variety of matters across a range of industries. His clients include buyers and sellers in mergers and acquisitions transactions, companies undergoing meaningful growth or transition, private equity sponsors and others who buy, invest in or operate privately-held companies. He serves as “outside general counsel” for a number of his clients.
Rob’s areas of concentration include:
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Strategic Planning
- Equity Investments, Restructurings and Recapitalizations
- Corporate Governance and Partnership/Shareholder Agreements
- Joint Ventures, Capital Raises and Private Placements
- Private Investment Fund Formations
- IT Agreements (consulting, SaaS/”cloud,” managed services, outsourcing).
- Complex Commercial Agreements
Additional Information
Education & Admissions
Education
- John Marshall Law School, J.D., cum laude
- Iowa State University, B.A., Political Science
Bar Admissions
- Illinois
Memberships
- The John Marshall Law Review
- American Bar Association
- Illinois State Bar Association
- Chicago Bar Association
- A Giving Heart Foundation, Board Member
Awards
- Illinois Super Lawyers, Rising Star 2017-2018
- Emerging Lawyer in Corporate Finance Law, Mergers & Acquisitions and Securities & Venture Finance, Leading Lawyers, 2015
- Member, The John Marshall Law Review
- 2008 Recipient, Order of John Marshall
Q&A
If you weren’t an attorney, what would you be?
I would have loved to be an entrepreneur: to take an idea born out of a creative solution to a problem and work with a team to develop, implement and grow that idea into a new business that is a net positive to society.What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
Talk less. Listen more. Practice empathy.What’s the biggest mistake attorneys can make?
Not heeding the advice above.
“Rob has been a trusted advisor to MPG Equity since the day we filed our initial corporate papers. His sage advice during and around transactional engagements continually proves to be of great value.” - Michael Goy, MPG Equity Partners