Longtime capital markets broker Mike McDonald celebrated one of his most important career milestones in a big way: The new JLL dealmaker toasted the end of a high-profile noncompete agreement, joined by his wife and two daughters, at Oktoberfest in Germany.
McDonald, who with colleague Jonathan Napper, was sidelined from conducting real estate deals in the United States through mid-September, is back to traveling across his home country this week seeking to work on large investment transactions. The two well-known brokers hired by JLL a year ago were barred from conducting deals initially as part of a nonsolicitation and noncompete agreement they signed years ago with their former employer, Cushman & Wakefield.
"I'm really happy I made the move, and I'm excited about the JLL platform and connectivity," McDonald told CoStar News. He said he was in Germany celebrating Oktoberfest as the clock expired on agreements made with his former employer, a firm that took legal action against him and Napper.
McDonald took a flight to Miami Thursday morning for his first business pitch in over a year, telling CoStar News he was glad to be back working as he wished, adding that he felt the litigation brought by Cushman & Wakefield "was unfounded and frivolous but, at the end of the day, those were not my actions and I handled myself in a professional way."
Napper echoed McDonald's thoughts, adding he can't wait to get "back in the saddle" and returning to dealmaking. Napper said he was glad when they both started that work last week at JLL.
Cushman & Wakefield did not immediately respond to a media request from CoStar News seeking a comment on its two former brokers moving on, doing deals again unencumbered. Last October, the Chicago-based firm filed a lawsuit in a Dallas County District Court against McDonald and Napper, alleging the capital markets brokers violated their nonsolicitation and noncompete agreements. The brokers left Cushman & Wakefield in mid-September 2022 to join rival brokerage JLL. The brokers also persuaded some coworkers to join them at JLL, their former brokerage alleged in the suit.
The duo told a Texas judge they would not violate the covenants of the agreements signed with Cushman & Wakefield. But Cushman's claim was ratified by the judge overseeing the case who banned the pair from dealmaking activities including "directly or indirectly and in any capacity engaging in services or providing assistance to any person or entity providing services" related to real estate brokerage activities in the United States.
Napper closed his chapter on Cushman & Wakefield in a quieter way, celebrating a birthday with his family over dinner in Dallas while looking forward to finally contributing to JLL's investment platform and putting the past behind him.
"There's a lot of pent-up excitement coming over here and it feels good to get to work and contribute," he said, adding he is beginning to put together "capital formation strategies," with clients between now and the end of the year — positioning themselves for deal activity for next year.
McDonald, who has decades in the commercial real estate business, said he's expecting capital to return to investing in the office sector in the coming years, especially in "high-growth innovation districts," throughout the Sun Belt.