Sal LaViña Named a 2019 Most Influential Minority Attorney by Los Angeles Business Journal

LOS ANGELES – Salvador (Sal) LaViña, a partner with Barnes & Thornburg, has been named to the Los Angeles Business Journal’s 2019 list of Most Influential Minority Attorneys. He is one of 50 local minority attorneys recognized for their achievements in the legal and business communities.

LaViña is an experienced deal lawyer who has worked on complex transactions and provided strategic advice to his clients for nearly 30 years. He has supervised or closed transactions totaling billions of dollars in several states across the U.S., and nearly $10 billion in transactions since the 2008 economic downturn.

“I am truly honored and humbled to be named to the Most Influential Minority Lawyers list. I’m a native Angeleno, and I love L.A. – to reflect on where I started, to where I am now – just seems hard to imagine. I’m proud to be recognized for just doing what I believe in – hard work and giving back to my community,” said LaViña.

LaViña’s work covers virtually all areas of real estate, including acquisitions and sales, joint ventures, multifamily transactions, complex 1031 exchanges, fund formation, development, and public-private and multistate matters. On the corporate side, LaViña represents family offices, investors and entrepreneurs in mid-market mergers and acquisitions, stock and asset transactions, syndication, private placements, complex workouts, and crisis management, and also in business divorces and disputes.

Besides being named to the Southern California Super Lawyers list for several consecutive years and beyond his legal work, L.A.-born LaViña is dedicated to giving back to the communities in which he lives and works. He is on the board of directors for Village Family Services, is a board member and general counsel for the UCLA Alumni Association, and a board member of the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate. He is a member of the Columbia University Alumni Association and of American Mensa. He also volunteers for speech and debate tournaments, and mentors and speaks to high school students on career development at local inner-city high schools. LaViña also is a recipient of a Wiley W. Manuel Certificate for Pro Bono Legal Services from the State Bar of California.

With more than 600 attorneys and other legal professionals, Barnes & Thornburg is one of the largest law firms in the country. The firm serves clients worldwide from 14 offices in Atlanta, California, Chicago, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Minneapolis, Ohio, Texas and Washington, D.C.