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W. David Bernard
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W. David Bernard
Shareholder - Director - President

Contact Info
T: (915) 546-8205
F: (915) 546-8333

1100 Chase Tower
201 East Main
El Paso, TX  79901


dber@scotthulse.com

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 Mr. Bernard is President of ScottHulse and Chairman the firm's Board of Directors. He joined the firm in 1979 after serving in the U.S. Army, lastly as a trial lawyer in the Judge Advocate General's (JAGC) Corps.

Mr. Bernard's primary areas of practice are Real Estate, Real Estate Lending, and Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A). In the M&A area, he is primarily engaged in the buying and selling of privately held companies and divisions, and cross-border U.S./Mexico transactions.

Mr. Bernard has been board certified in commercial real estate by the Texas State Board of Legal Specialization since 1983. He advises clients on all aspects of the acquisition, financing, development, construction, leasing, management and sale of improved and unimproved real property as well as formation of joint ventures, partnerships and syndications of real estate projects.

Over the past 15 years, Mr. Bernard has represented clients in the sale or acquisition of more than 30 privately held companies ranging in size from $2 million to $120 million in enterprise value. The nature of these transactions has covered the waterfront, including sale and/or acquisition of assets, stock sales and purchases, and mergers. Many of the acquisitive and dispositive transactions have involved operations in numerous states and countries, particularly transactions that involved "maquiladora" operations of either the selling or buying company in Mexico.

A member of both the El Paso and American Bar Associations, Mr. Bernard has been frequently named one of the "Best Lawyers in America" as well as a Texas Monthly Magazine "Texas Super Lawyer".

Mr. Bernard received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from The United States Military Academy, where he was the corps middle-weight boxing champion. He received a Doctor of Jurisprudence with honors from the University of Texas School of Law, where he was associate editor of the Texas Law Review.

Mr. Bernard served in the U.S. Army from 1971 to 1979. After completing the U.S. Army Airborne and Ranger Schools, he served first as a small unit commander with the 4th Infantry Division, and later as a trial counsel in the Judge Advocate General's Corps. After completing his service obligation in 1979, he joined ScottHulse, where he has been a partner/shareholder for more than 25 years.

Except for his military postings, Mr. Bernard is a life-long resident of El Paso and is very active in the community. He is a founder and director of Borderplex Community Trust, a private real estate investment trust formed in 2007 to acquire, develop and manage real estate in downtown El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Currently a director of the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Mr. Bernard is also a former member of the Chamber's executive committee and has served as its outside general counsel in the past. Mr. Bernard is a past president of the board of directors of St. Clements Episcopal School, and a former Chancellor of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande.


REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
Real Estate and Real Estate Lending
Mr. Bernard has advised clients on all aspects of the acquisition, financing, development, construction, leasing, management and sale of improved and unimproved real property as well as formation of joint ventures, partnerships and syndications of real estate projects. A sampling of projects includes the following:
  • Represented a privately held real estate investment trust, in its organization and start-up, including private offering of $30 million in units of beneficial interest.
  • Represented a privately held real estate investment trust in the acquisition of some of El Paso's largest high-rise office towers and in the acquisition of historic downtown landmark properties acquired for restoration and redevelopment.
  • Represented the largest land developer in El Paso County, Texas in the development of integrated, mixed-use retail centers, including sales to major anchors, negotiation of joint development agreements among the anchors and pad site users, and ground leases with major national tenants on the pad sites.
  • Represented the largest land developer in Las Cruces in connection with the development of numerous major mixed-use development projects in the main Las Cruces growth corridor ranging in size from 8- to 10-acre office/retail projects to 100-acre-plus mixed-use commercial and multi-family housing (apartments and condominiums) projects.
  • Represented national development companies and brokers in connection with private sector real estate projects on the Fort Bliss, Texas military installation including structuring of transactions and advice as to applicable legislative jurisdiction for private real estate projects on a federal enclave. This advice was essential in determining the applicability of state and local laws to development projects on a federal enclave, including building codes, minimum wage, state real estate licensing (broker) statutes and, importantly, applicability of state and local taxes to private real estate developments on federal lands. These projects involved coordination with army and other governmental agencies, including the office of the Fort Bliss Staff Judge Advocate. Mr. Bernard's prior experience as a JAG officer was invaluable in assisting in these public/private development projects on a military installation.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Mr. Bernard has represented clients in the sale or acquisition of privately held companies ranging in size from $2 million to $120 million in enterprise value. These transactions have included the sale and/or acquisition of assets, stock sales and purchases, and mergers. Many of the transactions have involved operations in numerous states and countries, particularly transactions that involved maquiladora operations of either the selling or buying company in Mexico. A sampling of projects includes the following:
  • Represented a privately held, regional transportation company in the acquisition of Central Transportation Systems, Inc., one of the largest and most diversified household goods moving companies in the State of Texas. This transaction was structured as a taxable reverse subsidiary merger because of the diversified (though private) share ownership of the seller, and involved operations and facilities in every major city in Texas and many states of the Union.
  • Represented major Borderplex-based and mid-western based manufacturing companies in the acquisition of other businesses representing expansion opportunities. These transactions have involved asset purchases, stock purchases, and mergers, and have involved companies based in California, Minnesota, Florida, New Jersey, Connecticut, Texas, Oklahoma, and other states, many of which operations were consolidated to the Borderplex region following the acquisition. One particular transaction, involving the acquisition of the stock of a Connecticut Subchapter S corporation, was structured as a §338 (h)(10) election under the Internal Revenue Code to allow the buyer to account for the transaction as an asset purchase rather than a stock purchase.
 
AREAS OF CONCENTRATION
Real Estate
Mergers & Acquisitions
Lending & Financial Institutions
International and Cross-Border Business
Corporate and Securities
 
EDUCATION
United States Military Academy - 1971
  Bachelor of Science
University of Texas - 1976
  Juris Doctor with honors
  Associate Editor Texas Law Review 1975-1976
 
ADMISSIONS & QUALIFICATIONS
State Bar of Texas - 1976
Certified in Commercial Real Estate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1983
 



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