Our Management
Justin A. Barr
Managing Principal
With intelligence, dedication and passion, Justin Barr has made a name for himself as a tireless advocate for community banks in distress. Justin’s commitment to helping community banks stay in control of their own destiny can be traced to his renowned family history of defending private businesses against government intervention and outside threats since the mid 1940s (see Chicago Legacy page).
In addition to nearly a decade of experience in middle market C&I and commercial real estate lending, Justin has spent the last ten years exclusively focused on loan workout and community bank turnaround projects. His background, credibility and extensive loan workout and bank turnaround knowledge and experience make him uniquely qualified to help community banks facing asset quality, capital and regulatory issues.
Justin began his commercial lending career with LaSalle Bank and Bank of America. His C&I and commercial real estate loan workout experience includes senior positions with money center banks including Harris Bank and Credit Agricole. Justin has also managed numerous "consent order" community bank turnaround projects over the past ten years, with an extraordinary track record of successfully challenging bank regulators, resolving complex non-performing asset issues and recapitalizing banks.
Recognized as an expert on community banking, he is often quoted in the financial media (see News page), and his analytical abilities are well respected by banking professionals and bank regulatory authorities alike.
Lee Pollock
Managing Director
Lee Pollock is a savvy and dedicated community banking and finance expert who has seen the commercial real estate lending business from all sides over a 25-year period. In good economic times and in bad, Lee has worked in all aspects of commercial real estate as an investor, lender and consultant.
Prior to joining Loan Workout Advisers, Lee was Managing Principal of Synergy Real Estate Advisors, a Chicago-based real estate consulting, investment and advisory firm focused on commercial properties throughout the United States. He also served as Managing Director with Picerne Capital, LLC, responsible for the acquisition of performing and non-performing loans from banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions. Previously, he was a senior investment officer with a $15 billion global hedge fund investing in commercial mortgage securities, senior and mezzanine loans, REIT stocks and real estate private equity. Lee was Executive Vice President and a Director of two community banks specializing in national commercial real estate lending and a Principal with Capri Capital Partners, where he established one of the first dedicated mezzanine loan funds for institutional investors.
He began his career in real estate as founder and President of Capital Realty Services, Inc., a leading independent commercial mortgage banking firm in Chicago. Under his leadership, the firm arranged in excess of $2 billion in financing.
Lee is a native of Montreal, Canada and holds a BA in Economics from McGill University and MBA in Finance from the Booth Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago.
Lee is a Trustee and active supporter of The Churchill Centre, an international member organization that promotes interest in and awareness of Sir Winston Churchill and the relevance of his thoughts, words and deeds to the global challenges of the 21st century. The Churchill Centre sponsors the annual International Churchill Conference, publishes an award winning history magazine “Finest Hour,” holds seminars for high school and college teachers and students and maintains a highly popular website with over 1,000 pages of content and some 500,000 visitors a year (www.winstonchurchilll.org).
Our Consultants
Our credit risk and loan workout consultants all began their careers with money center Chicago banks and have since collectively spent decades in senior commercial lending and loan workout roles. Similarly, our real estate consultants are seasoned professionals, with decades of experience in all areas of real estate investment, development, brokerage and appraisal.
Bios on our credit risk, loan workout and real estate consultants are available to prospective bank clients upon request.