Managing Director
Jaime Banfield is a Managing Director with The Concours Group. She has over 25 years experience as General Counsel, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Board Chairman and Director of a variety of public and private companies in the real estate, construction, and restaurant industries.
Experience
Ms. Banfield began her career as a litigator, handling business, corporate and real estate disputes, during which she gained significant trial and appellate experience that includes winning opinions in Will v. Engebretson & Co. (1989) 213 Cal.App. 3d 1033 and Sabow v. United States (9th Cir. 1996) 93 F.3d 1445. She then joined The Lusk Company as Associate General Counsel for the company’s commercial, industrial, retail and construction divisions, where she negotiated sophisticated purchase, sale, lease and financing transactions involving the company’s office, medical, industrial and retail properties, including a major regional mall, community centers and strip centers, managed the company’s litigation, and was later promoted to General Counsel for The Lusk Company’s overall operations.
After a brief return to private practice, Ms. Banfield joined Forecast Homes, a major homebuilder with operations in southern California, northern California, Phoenix and Flagstaff, Arizona, where she was Associate General Counsel, responsible for the negotiation and documentation of bulk land purchases and legal matters relating to its homebuilding operations, including entitlements, site development, home construction and sales. Forecast was eventually acquired by Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:HOV), and Ms. Banfield was promoted to Chief Legal Officer for the Western Group office of Hovnanian, consisting of homebuilding operations in inland southern California, northern California, and Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona which then employed over 800 people, delivered approximately 4,500 homes, and generated sales of $1.8 Billion. There, she managed a staff of division attorneys that serviced the Western Group, managed the Group’s litigation, and served on the due diligence team for the acquisition of other homebuilding companies by the Group.
Ms. Banfield left Hovnanian to join Frontier Enterprises, a company that started, owned and operated a diverse collection of businesses that included a homebuilder (which made the Builder 100 in its second year of operations, and in its third year, delivered 800 homes and generated approximately $300 Million in revenues), a commercial real estate company, a beverage manufacturer, a retail cigar shop and private smoking lounge, and charter aviation operation. There Ms. Banfield served as Chief Legal Officer and Senior Vice President of Human Resources, overseeing all legal, risk management, and human resources functions, as well as regulatory matters relating to the company’s diverse collection of businesses. Ms. Banfield left Frontier to move into the role of President and Chief Executive Officer of Tacos Mexico, Inc., a real estate company which provides restaurant locations to restaurant operators, and owns and operates various commercial real estate sites that include shopping centers and a banquet facility.
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Director of Professionals
- Increasing revenues over a four (4) month period resulting in a positive cash flow of over $100,000 per month versus a loss of $40,000 per month.
- Assessing the status of operating entities and bringing them in full compliance with applicable laws.
- Assessing company risks and obtaining insurance coverage for those risks.
- Leveraging assets in order obtain funding for facility renovation in order to bring them up to code and comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act and other applicable laws.
- Assumed control of defaulted or underperforming facilities and, through change in management, returned them to profitability for the company.
Education & Professional Certifications
State Bar of California
MBA, Chapman University
JD, Western State University, COllege of Law
BA, Psychology, University of California, Irvine
Professional Organizations and Activities
Ms. Banfield is a member of the State Bar of California, and past member of Orange County Bar Association Resolutions Committee and Delegate to the State Bar Convention, and served as Chairman of the Sergeants at Arms of the State Bar Conference of Delegates. Ms. Banfield has served as a director, and chairman of the board of directors, for a variety of organizations and industries.