T: 612.756.7122
E: TowleN@sapientialaw.com
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About

 Towle is a business and transactional attorney with more than 20 years of experience. His practice focuses on real estate, asset and stock transactions, new business creation and expansion, outside general counsel services, and lending. He provides strategic legal counsel to a wide range of clients, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, in various industries, from commercial finance and real estate development to life sciences and manufacturing.

Towle started his legal career 20 years ago at a prominent construction litigation firm in Minneapolis, but eventually transitioned to real estate transactional and lending work. Prior to joining Sapientia in 2015, he was also the owner of an independent filmmaking business and a solo practitioner. Coupled with his transactional and general counsel experience, this unique background and gives Towle invaluable insight to understanding his clients’ needs and concerns and fuels his commitment to client loyalty, cost-effective service, and creative solutions.

General Counsel Services

Towle works closely with his clients on day-to-day operational and growth issues, as well as finding creative solutions to critical business decisions, including company formation, ownership structure and change, non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements, contracts and licensing, private equity and financing, mergers and acquisitions, and commercial business transactions. In this capacity, he prides himself on being a loyal and trusted confidante to his clients, which gives them the freedom to focus on their business priorities and strategic decisions, not legal concerns.

Towle is also a member of Sapientia’s COVID-19 Business Counsel team formed in response to the pandemic. He combines his lending and transactional experience with his knowledge of the COVID-19 federal loans and financial assistance available to small businesses that are impacted by the pandemic, including those programs administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Transactional

Towle also has significant experience representing owners, developers, and lenders in all aspects of real estate transactions, mergers and acquisitions, construction lending, and project management, including drafting, negotiating, closing, and administering construction and term loans; negotiating construction contracts, commercial leases, purchase agreements, and declarations of restrictive covenants, and review and analysis of title and survey, environmental, corporate compliance, and all other due diligence.

• Representative General Counsel Experience
  • Outside general counsel to a foreign, publicly traded company expanding into the U.S. life sciences industry focused on developing technology for mental health diagnosis and monitoring. Draft and negotiate business-development agreements, including product development contracts, consulting agreements, NDAs, data sharing and clinical trial agreements, and sales and licensing contracts.
  • Represent the developer of a 400-acre residential garage condominium and road track project in rural Minnesota.
  • Represent a property management company in connection with its operation of several apartment communities in the Twin Cities.
  • As outside general counsel, oversaw internal investigation of alleged breach of fiduciary duties by executive officer.

• Representative Transactional Experience
  • Represented the lender of a $70,000,000 construction and term loan for the development of a 70-tenant lifestyle shopping center in the Minneapolis metro area.
  • Represented a national bank in a $12,300,000 construction and term loan for development of an office building in Hennepin County, Minnesota.
  • Represented a national retail company in its receipt of $36,000,000 STAR bond funds for the construction of a 235,000 sq. ft. store in Sparks, Nevada.
  • Represented a lender in a $15,000,000 loan for the construction of an ethanol plant.
  • Represented a Twin Cities real estate group in the sales of four apartment complexes for a total of $7,600,000.
  • Represented the developer in the construction financing of a 27-story condominium tower and adjacent townhomes in downtown Minneapolis.
  • Represented the buyer in its purchase and leasing of several office buildings in the Twin Cities metro area ranging in value from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000.

Education
J.D., with distinction, University of Iowa College of Law (1999)
B.S., Dean’s List, Northwestern University (1995)

Court Admissions
State of Minnesota

Personal
Favorite Travel Spots: Laos and a secret location in the Colorado Rockies
Favorite Sport: Mountain Biking. Yes, it’s a sport. Theme Song: Live Wire by Mötley Crüe
Favorite Non-Profit: IFP of Minnesota
Favorite Part of Being a Lawyer: It’s a profession where having gray hair is a good thing.
Little Known Fact: Directed the feature film Heart of Wilderness