Christine E. Nicholas

Christine E. Nicholas is a member of the firm’s Corporate section. She is a business, real estate, and finance lawyer with in-house and law firm experience in domestic and international transactions. She is an experienced team leader and supervisor, with a roll-up-your-sleeves work style and management experience.

Practice focus:

Business sales and acquisitions – counsel, strategize, and structure transactions; negotiate, document, and close agreements for the purchase or sale of assets or stock in domestic and international transactions, and assist in post-closing integration of acquired businesses.

Finance – domestic and international term and revolving credit agreements; publicly bonded improvements; equipment leases (capital, operating, and synthetic leases of rolling stock, mining equipment, food processing equipment, and the like) in secured and unsecured loan transactions; negotiation of ISDA documentation for commodities, FX and interest rate hedging; problem loan restructures; private placements of notes and equity in Reg D and other exempt offerings.

Real estate – sales, acquisitions, development, and leasing (including retail shopping centers, office buildings, mixed-use developments, hotels, restaurants, multifamily housing and residential subdivisions); real-estate secured finance transactions. Ms. Nicholas is a fellow in the American College of Mortgage Attorneys and in the American College of Real Estate Lawyers.

Commercial law – vendor contracts, licensing agreements, construction agreements (AIA and ConsensusDocs), sales agreements, product supply agreements, pure food guaranties, tolling agreements, private label agreements, manufacturing agreements, co-pack agreements, distribution agreements, joint development agreements, product development agreements, joint venture agreements; copyright and trademark protection (including Madrid Protocol filings for international trademarks).

General corporate law and governance – entity selection and formation of corporations, LLCs, and partnerships; day-to-day advice related to entity operations, business licensing, and maintenance; board of directors and senior leadership advice and support; minutes, annual reports, policy development, and compliance review.

Ms. Nicholas has held positions with law firms in Boise, Idaho, and Portland, Oregon, and has served as in-house counsel to the J.R. Simplot Company in Boise, Idaho, as associate general counsel – finance and corporate affairs and assistant secretary from Dec. 2003 to Nov. 2005, associate general counsel from Jun. 2000 to Dec. 2003, and assistant general counsel from Jun. 1994 to Jun. 2000, where her responsibilities included providing board support and governance advice, legal support to material transactions, and legal support to the company’s finance function.

She has published in Business Law Today, the national magazine of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association, and The Advocate, the monthly publication of the Idaho State Bar, and she regularly presents for continuing legal education programs on topics, such as third-party opinions, finance transactions, corporate governance, leasing, and contracting.

Educación

• University of Idaho College of Law, JD, 1985
  • Academic membership on the board of the Idaho Law Review
• University of Massachusetts School of Business Administration, BBA (management), con honores, 1982
  • Inductee, Phi Kappa Phi and Beta Gamma Sigma honor societies

• Idaho
• Oregón
• Washington

• Rated AV Preeminent 5 out of 5, Martindale-Hubble
• Mountain States Super Lawyers: Real Estate (2015-2025)
• Los mejores abogados^®: Corporate Governance Law (2015-2026) and Real Estate Law (2020-2026)
• Chambers USA ranked in Corporate/Commercial and Real Estate
• Fellow, American College of Mortgage Attorneys (ACMA)
• Fellow, American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL)
• Fellow, The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation
• 2023 Top 10 Most Influential Corporate Lawyers in Idaho Award, Business Today
• 2018 Women of the Year Honoree, Idaho Business Review
• 2016 Leader in Law Honoree, Idaho Business Review

• Opinions Committee Co-Chair and State Committee Chair, American College of Mortgage Attorneys
• Governing Council Member, Idaho State Bar Real Property Section
• Past Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer and Governing Council Member, Idaho State Bar Business and Corporate Law Section
• Member, American Bar Association Business Law & Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Sections
  • Specialty groups/committee member:
    • Commercial Finance
    • Commercial Real Estate Transactions
    • Financiamiento inmobiliario
    • LLCs, Partnerships and Unincorporated Entities
    • Legal Opinions
    • Fusiones y adquisiciones
    • Middle Market and Small Business