Rich Payne

Richmond A. Payne’s law practice encompasses business, corporate, and organizational matters as well as personal and banking matters.

In the business, corporate and organizational area, Rich has been engaged in:

• Representing numerous closely held family businesses including succession planning, general corporate matters, operating agreements, shareholder agreements, buy-sell agreements, consulting and employment agreements, severance and non-compete agreements, asset, stock and real estate sales and purchase agreements.
• Representing not for profits, family foundations and other charities.
• Serving as outside General or Special Counsel for numerous Chicagoland companies, including companies recognized in Crain’s Chicago List of Largest Privately Held Companies, Fast 50 (Fastest Growing Companies) and Largest Women-Owned Firms.
• Serving as General Counsel for Rust Communication, Inc. and subsidiaries, one of the largest independent, family owned newspaper chains in the United States, comprised of daily newspapers, weekly newspapers, radio stations and commercial and quick printing operations.
• Structuring hundreds of new companies.
• Completing numerous acquisitions and sales of businesses and assets, stock and real estate.
• Representing companies in spin-off of various real and personal properties into limited liability companies operating in several states and in restructuring to allow for minority interest holders.
• Negotiated leases, employment contracts, executive compensation, publishing, royalties, intellectual property rights, distribution terms, settlements, insurance, agency representation, succession planning, partnerships, shareholder agreements and joint ventures.
• Representing borrowers in numerous loans ranging from small loans to $55 million.

In the personal law area, Rich has focused on:

• Serving as the Personal General Counsel for high net worth/high income individuals and families.

In the banking area, Rich has focused on:

• Serving as Approved Counsel for many Chicagoland area banks including JPMorgan Chase Bank, BMO Harris Bank, Wintrust Banks, The Huntington National Bank, American Commercial Bank & Trust, Wells Fargo Bank, Fifth Third Bank and Northern Trust Company.
• Previously served as the Outside Regional Counsel for Union Planters Bank, N.A., one of the 30 largest banks in the United States at the time and was responsible for 25 branches in 10 cities comprised of nearly $1 billion in assets.

Law School:

• St. Louis University School of Law, J.D. 1987
• Articles Editor, St. Louis University School of Law Journal; American Jurisprudence Award

Undergraduate School:

• Westminster College, (Fulton, Missouri), B.A., Political Science, 1984
• Four-year Presidential Scholarship; Newspaper Editor, Honor Commission Chairman, Delta Tau Delta

Awards; Honors; Distinctions:

• Five Star Peer Reviewed (A/V) Rated – Martindale Hubbard
• Leading Lawyer, Chicagoland Area
• Top Real Estate-Related Lawyer, Chicagoland Area
• Five-Star Client Review Rated – Martindale Hubbell
• Recognized by Missouri Lawyers Weekly as an expert in banking matters and quoted (page 1) regarding a bank’s duty to inquire and a recent Missouri Supreme Court decision on same
• Published legal writing: “A Proposed New Tort Cause of Action for Breach of the Implied Covenant of Good Faith & Fair Dealing in Commercial Contracts in Missouri,” St. Louis University School of Law Journal

Community Involvement:

• Rich has actively been involved in his community serving in Director, Officer and other capacities in his church, United Way, Young Life, Crime Stoppers, Chamber of Commerce and Lions Club. He is a former board member and then Chairman of the Board of Bright Hope International and a member of the Hoffman Estates Economic Development Commission and Board of Governors of The Northwest Executive Club of Chicago.