Rosemarie A. Thurston

Rosemarie A. Thurston

Alston & Bird LLP

Rosemarie Thurston is a partner and leads the firm’s REITs and Real Estate Funds Team. Ms. Thurston represents numerous alternative investment products including REITs, real estate funds and business development companies in their fund formation, public securities offerings, private placements, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, roll-ups, and ongoing securities law compliance.  Ms. Thurston regularly advises executive officers, boards of directors and board committees on corporate governance matters, including compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, New York Stock Exchange rules and general “best practices” for reporting companies.  Ms. Thurston also counsels broker-dealers on compliance with applicable regulations of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in connection with the distribution of securities.

Ms. Thurston is a member of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), and serves on NAREIT’s Associate Board of Governors, Government Relations Committee and SEC Subcommittee. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Investment Program Association (IPA) and chair of the IPA’s Legal and Regulatory Affairs Committee. She is a frequent speaker at national conferences on legal issues relevant to the REIT and real estate fund industry.  Ms. Thurston was named among the “Dealmakers of the Year” by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Ms. Thurston received her J.D. from Vanderbilt University, magna cum laude, where she was a member of the Vanderbilt Law Review and The Order of the Coif. She received her B.S., magna cum laude, from the University of Kentucky. She is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and the American and Atlanta Bar Associations.