CORPOR ATE AT TORNE YS
TOP 15
has been hooked ever since. Homeier’s
seven-lawyer firm specializes in a
sophisticated general business law
practice for medium- and small-sized
businesses, with a particular expertise in
equity crowdfunding as well as EB-5.
The firm aims to provide the same
quality of expert work as larger and
more expensive firms, but at “middle-class” prices.
As both a business and securities
lawyer, Homeier handles EB-5 cases in
a unique manner, along with his fellow
attorneys. They not only make certain
that all material disclosures about the
investment opportunities are made, but
also that the pieces will work together
from a business law perspective. This
involves negotiating and drafting
securities disclosure documents, as
well as transactional law documents
and corporate entity formation work.
Homeier strives to ensure that potential
investors see the risks and potential
gains involved with investment oppor-
tunities, and also that the particular
project makes sense from a business
perspective.
He sees his practice providing a key
piece in the puzzle of helping businesses
succeed, as well as enabling investors
to be better informed about their
investments. Homeier is passionate
about EB-5 because it provides a
way for businesses to raise capital in
what remains a very difficult business
financing environment, at zero cost to
U.S. taxpayers, and a way for successful
foreign investors to attain U.S. visas and
eventually contribute to expanding the
U.S. economy.
Homeier works to have EB-5 seen as
just one piece in the bigger picture of
helping businesses grow and succeed,
and he feels privileged that he and
his team can contribute to that. He
carries this positive attitude over into
his personal life, where he spends time
speaking to fellow teen and young adult
cancer survivors.
As half of the two-member firm
Kingston Petersen, based in Seattle,
Andrew Kingston provides one-on-one
personalized counsel to his clients.
An honors graduate of Harvard Law
School, Kingston has been practicing
corporate and securities law for almost
30 years. Since 2009, he has served as
securities counsel in connection with
EB-5 private placements, working
directly with issuers in each case.
Before Kingston takes on any
EB-5 project – and he turns away a
fair number so that he can provide
highly-concentrated service to those he
does accept – he performs comprehensive due diligence to confirm project
reputability and validity. As a result, he
has helped a number of EB-5 projects
become fully subscribed. He finds that
even though he plays a relatively small
role in a much larger project, knowing
he is part of a successfully developing
enterprise is one of the most gratifying
aspects of working in EB-5.
Kingston’s success in his EB-5
corporate and securities work also lies
in his ability to help project sponsors
adjust their expectations. He has found
that sponsors sometimes think of EB-5
financing as easy money, and he is
skilled in explaining that the process is
time-and effort-intensive without any
guaranteed success. Kingston guides his
clients to ensure offering documents
make full disclosure of all material
information and otherwise comply
with the requirements of U.S. securities
law. As the EB-5 industry continues to
develop and mature, Kingston hopes
that the quality of projects and EB-5
legal work will continue to improve,
and EB-5 will become a more accepted
financing tool.
Ultimately, when somebody hires
Kingston for an EB-5 project, they get
an unrelenting commitment to their
case and the benefit of three decades
of experience providing financing,
transactional and corporate law services
to clients throughout the world.
Kingston has also served as an adjunct
professor of law at Cornell University. A
resident of Seattle, Kingston devotes his
free time to hiking in the mountains,
traveling and spending time with his
family.
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EB5 INVESTORS MAGAZINE
Michael Homeier
Homeier & Law P.C.
Michael Homeier began his work on
EB-5 issues in 2009 as the co-founding
shareholder of Homeier & Law P.C.,
with offices in Los Angeles and New
York City. He and his partner, Jor Law,
were introduced to EB-5 by a previous
Top 25 Immigration Attorney, who
needed expert yet reasonably-pric ed
securities counsel on an EB-5 case—he
Andrew Kingston
Kingston Petersen