William E. Corley, III – Chief Legal Officer

Bill Corley joined The Klotz Group of Companies in 2017 as Chief Legal Officer after a long and successful career. He earned his bachelor’s degree with High Honors from the University of Florida in 1979, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He earned his law degree from the University of Florida College of Law in 1982, where he served on the Student Supreme Court.Bill practiced law with several top law firms from 1982 to 1997 (Smith, O’Haire, Vero Beach – 2.5 years, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, Palm Beach – 10 years, and Caldwell & Pacetti, Palm Beach — 2.5 years). His work focused on commercial real estate transactions and related litigation.

Then in 1998 he accepted an in-house position with Ocean Federal Bank, and worked there until 2001 on residential and commercial mortgage securitizations and on transactions involving Class A commercial office buildings.

Next Bill accepted an in-house position as General Counsel with a startup commercial real estate developer, where he worked on financing, acquisition and development matters through 2003.

Reflecting his increasing experience and expertise, Bill earned in 2004 an in-house position as Senior Counsel and Assistant Secretary to Bombardier Capital, Inc., the finance division of the global manufacturer, Bombardier. That company is the world’s largest manufacturer of trains, and the world’s third largest manufacturer of airplanes, including the Lear Jet, Global 8000, CRJ and Q Series brands. There Bill helped manage a billion dollar finance portfolio, and managed the company’s nationwide litigation through 2006.

Cadwalader called Bill back to the firm in 2006 to join the Global Finance Department in Manhattan. There he worked until 2011 on commercial mortgage originations and securitizations, representing the nation’s largest lenders. While there, Bill worked on the billion dollar commercial mortgage transaction that set the record for such transactions, and then worked on the transaction that broke that record.

Bill returned to Florida in 2011. From 2011 to 2013 he served as General Counsel to First Choice Repair, a nationwide construction management company. He then returned to private practice where he focused on representing commercial real estate developers and a start-up manufacturing company until joining The Klotz Group of Companies in 2017.

At the Klotz Group of Companies, Bill uses his skills and experience to handle real estate transactions, financing and development matters. He also manages the firm’s outside counsel and litigation matters.

Bill is a member of The Florida Bar, The United States District Courts for the Southern, Middle and Northern Districts of Florida, and the United States Bankruptcy Courts for the Northern and Middle Districts of Florida.

Bill makes his home in Jacksonville, Florida, and enjoys spending time with his family and playing golf.