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Strategic Advisor·Specialty Finance

Mike Shaffer

Partner, Structured Finance Practice at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

MS
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Why they matter

Rare lawyer who has sat on both sides of CRE securitization deals — outside counsel at Katten and in-house at a real estate lender — giving him a practical read on deal friction points.

Background

Mike Shaffer is a structured finance lawyer who rejoined Katten Muchin Rosenman as a partner in March 2026 after a stint in-house as associate general counsel and managing director at Churchill Real Estate. He spent six years at Katten earlier in his career, rising to partner in the structured finance group, with prior roles at Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, Alston & Bird, and Winston & Strawn. He holds a J.D. from Vanderbilt Law School and a B.S. from Cornell University.

Notable deals

  • 2016
    Co-authored Katten client advisory on CMBS risk-retention rules ahead of the Dodd-Frank Dec. 24, 2016 implementation deadline, reviewing the year's issuance (incl. the first compliant deal, WFCM 2016-BNK1) and 2017 outlook
  • 2026
    Rejoined Katten Muchin Rosenman as a partner in its Structured Finance practice (Charlotte office), bringing in-house CRE finance perspective from Churchill Real Estate

Call-prep brief

Background

  • Partner, Structured Finance practice, Katten Muchin Rosenman (Charlotte), rejoined March 2026
  • Prior: Associate General Counsel & Managing Director, Churchill Real Estate (in-house, real estate lender/investor)
  • Earlier: 6 years at Katten (partner), plus Cadwalader, Alston & Bird, Winston & Strawn
  • J.D. Vanderbilt Law; B.S. Cornell (Industrial & Labor Relations)

Current focus

  • CMBS, CRE CLOs, repurchase facilities, RMBS/single-family rental and auto loan securitizations
  • Represents lenders, loan sellers, issuers, underwriters, trustees, master servicers, and securities administrators — both public and Rule 144A private offerings

What they care about

  • Bridging legal structuring with commercial/operational reality — his in-house stint at Churchill was explicitly about gaining that "added perspective"
  • Market relationships in CRE lending/securitization built over a long Charlotte-market tenure

Recent moves

  • Left Katten for Churchill Real Estate (in-house, ~2022) after his first six-year Katten stint
  • Returned to Katten as partner in March 2026 — a boomerang hire the firm is actively marketing

Sensitivities

  • Recently re-joined a law firm after an in-house role; may be cautious discussing specifics of Churchill's book or portfolio
  • As outside counsel again, will likely defer deal specifics to client confidentiality — frame questions around market structure/trends, not named client deals

Questions to ask

  1. Having sat in-house at a CRE lender, where do you see the biggest disconnects between how deal counsel structures risk retention/CLOs and how originators actually manage that risk?
  2. What's changed most in the CRE CLO and repo market since you were last in private practice?
  3. What should a sponsor get in front of earlier in structuring a CMBS or CRE CLO deal to avoid late-stage renegotiation?

Outreach draft

Subject
Quick call on CRE securitization market color
Hi Mike, Congratulations on rejoining Katten's structured finance group — your combination of outside-counsel and in-house lender experience is unusual and exactly the perspective we're looking for right now. We're doing diligence on the specialty finance and CRE lending space and would value 30 minutes to get your read on where CMBS and CRE CLO structuring is heading, and what sponsors and lenders are getting wrong on risk retention and deal terms today. Would you have time for a call in the next week or two? Happy to work around your schedule. Best, [Placeholder Name]

Linked companies

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