Deitra Crawley
Partner – Townsend & Lockett LLC

Description of field of expertise

Corporate, General Counselor, Real Estate, & Energy

Ms. Crawley’s provides strategic counsel to a range of clients in domestic and international business transactions, corporate governance, and compliance. With over 20 years’ experience, she has served as a general counsel practitioner for several corporations, where she led corporate governance, corporate restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, legal and compliance departments, and complex dealmaking. Ms. Crawley represents entrepreneurs, developers and financiers in the renewable energy space, clients in entertainment and professional sports, general contractors and subcontractors, government contractors, restaurants, retail, charter schools, and collegiate institutions. She also teaches law students the art of dealmaking and the practice of transactional law at Emory University as an adjunct professor of law.

Ms. Crawley closes deals; advises entrepreneurs and philanthropists on entity formation, restructuring, and strategic planning; solves board governance matters; provides board training; designs custom-tailored agreements and compliance programs; and negotiates and drafts power purchase agreements, joint venture agreements, acquisition documents, government contracts agreements, construction, and other complex arrangements. Ms. Crawley also launched her own non-profit corporation, Global Community Mothers in Law and Know-how (MILK), Inc., to ensure the wisdom of “compassionate” policing is integrated in criminal justice divisions across the globe. Ms. Crawley seeks to drive value to her clients by creating a trusted path to their success.

What advice would you offer to new attorneys interested in your field?

My advice to new attorneys interested in my field is to think like a business person when advising business clients as that is a quality that establishes credibility and value; allow the law to guide your counsel.  In addition, stay relevant, always be prepared and manage your client’s expectations.