Rosemarie A. Thurston

• Counsel to a public commercial mortgage REIT in its $3.5 billion combination of equals with another public commercial mortgage REIT and a select portfolio of assets contributed by another public commercial real estate REIT. 
• Issuer’s counsel in public real estate securities offerings exceeding $100 billion. 
• Counsel to an NYSE-listed student housing REIT in a roll-up and $350 million IPO.
• Counsel to a public retail center REIT in a $2.5 billion merger with an NYSE-listed retail center REIT.
• Counsel to an NYSE-listed health care REIT in a $760 million merger with one of the nation’s largest NYSE-listed health care REITs.
• Counsel to the first-ever dual-share class, NAV-based REIT in a $2.25 billion continuous public offering.
• Counsel to underwriters in a $450 million public debt offering for an NYSE-listed multifamily REIT.
• Counsel to the special committee of one of the nation’s largest apartment REITs in its internalization and evaluation of strategic alternatives, leading to an NYSE-listed IPO.
• Counsel to a business development company and its affiliated broker-dealer in a $1.5 billion IPO.
• Counsel to an interval fund in its continuous public offering of up to $265 million in common shares. 

Rosemarie Thurston is senior counsel with the Financial Services Group, co-led Alston & Bird’s REITs & Real Estate Funds Team, and is a former Chair of the firm’s Management Committee. Rosemarie represents real estate companies, underwriters, real estate funds, and investment management firms in public securities offerings, private placements, mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, joint ventures, and ongoing securities law compliance. Rosemarie advises executive officers, boards of directors, and board committees on corporate governance matters, including compliance with NYSE rules and best practices for reporting companies. She also counsels broker-dealers on compliance with applicable regulations of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Rosemarie frequently speaks on REIT and alternative investment fund industry issues at national conferences. She is recognized in the REITs category by Chambers USA and Chambers Global and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America^® for Securities/Capital Markets Law. She is the recipient of the 2016 “Outstanding Service Award” from the Institute for Portfolio Alternatives. Rosemarie was named a “2019 Legal Counsel of the Year” in commercial real estate by the Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com as part of the annual “Women of Influence” series and named to Connect Media’s 2019 “Women in Real Estate” for the Atlanta/Southeast region. She is also a 2021 inductee of the University of Kentucky’s Gatton College of Business and Economics Alumni Hall of Fame.

Bar Admissions

• Georgia

Education

• Vanderbilt University (J.D.)
• University of Kentucky (B.S.)

Memberships