Kari Larson is a partner in the firm's Real Estate practice. She focuses on commercial real estate including the acquisition, disposition, leasing, financing, and development of commercial, timber and food and agribusiness holdings, including controlled environment agriculture (CEA) facilities. Kari regularly represents both borrowers and lenders (foreign and domestic) in lending transactions secured by commercial and agricultural properties, including the negotiation of intercreditor and co-lender arrangements. She also regularly advises clients on investments in various food and agribusiness assets. Kari is certified in Legal Project Management.
Kari grew up on a dairy farm in Skagit Valley, Washington. With this background in mind, she regularly counsels clients with respect to general matters affecting the ownership and operation of timber, farmland, and other agribusiness assets. Additionally, Kari has developed particular experience in advising clients on regulatory issues impacting the growing, processing, manufacturing and distribution of food products, including issues under the Food Safety Modernization Act and state regulatory schemes, supply chain management issues, and transportation issues. Further, Kari regularly advises on jurisdictionally-specific permitting, licensing, certification, and product-specific requirements for producers, processors and retailers (including online retailers) of food, including those applicable to CEA facilities. Kari also counsels clients on filing requirements for foreign investors under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act and analogous state statutes.
In the renewable energy sector, Kari has experience in addressing real property and title issues arising in the acquisition, development, and financing of wind, solar, and other renewable energy projects across the United States and also reviews and negotiates wind and solar leases on behalf of landowners.
Kari’s experience in the commercial real estate sector spans a variety of real estate properties, including the financing, leasing, development, and acquisition or sale of office buildings, warehouse, distribution and fulfillment centers, condominiums, hotels, shopping centers, industrial facilities, and other commercial mixed-use properties.
Prior to joining K&L Gates, Kari was a real estate associate at a regional law firm with one of the largest real estate practices in New York.
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® "Ones to Watch" 2023 for work in Real Estate Law
- CALI Excellence for the Future Award in Property
- Nominee, American Bar Association On the Rise - Top 40 Young Lawyers Award 2020
- American Bar Association Real Property Trust and Estates Section Fellow 2019-2021
- Legal Project Management Certification
- Chair, American Bar Association Real Property Trust and Estates Section Mortgage Lending Sub-Group
- Co-Chair, American Agricultural Law Association Membership and Marketing Committee
- Vice-Chair – Real Property, American Bar Association Real Property Trust and Estates Membership Committee
- Co-Chair, CREW Seattle & Sound Membership Committee
- Presenter, “Regulatory, Rules and Requirements Revisited: Part II of a Discussion on Requirements Applicable to Foreign and Domestic Purchasers of US Agricultural Property,” American Agricultural Law Association Annual Agricultural Law Symposium (November 2023)
- Presenter, “When the Plan Goes Awry: Making the Best of Mortgage Modifications,” ABA Real Property, Trusts and Estates Section Spring National Conference (May 2023)
- Presenter, “More than ‘Knowing your Customer’: a Primer on Due Diligence in Mortgage Lending Transactions,” ABA Real Property, Trusts and Estates Section Spring National Conference (May 2023)
- Presenter, “Loan Basics: Recourse Guarantees,” ABA 24th Annual RPTE Conference (April 2022)
- Presenter, “M&A in Food and Agribusiness: What Your Diligence List is Missing,” American Agricultural Law Association Annual Agricultural Law Symposium (November 2021)
- Presenter, “Trouble at the Park Hotel: The Fictional Challenges of a Luxury Hotel Struggling to Stay Afloat and Avoid Foreclosure During a Global Pandemic,” ABA 33rd Annual RPTE Conference (April 2021)
- Moderator, “Not all Lenders Are the Same: What is a Nonbank Lender and What Difference Does It Make Anyway?,” ABA 33rd Annual RPTE Conference (April 2021)
- Moderator, “Distressed Real Estate and Loan Work Outs - Nuts and Bolts on Navigating Forbearance Negotiation and More,” American Bar Association CLE (February 2021)
- Presenter, “An Insurable Event? Managing Supply Chain Risk in a Global Food Economy,” American Agricultural Law Association Annual Agricultural Law Symposium (November 2019)
- Presenter, “PACA and Real Property: Follow the Fruit, Washington State Bar Association New Developments in Real Property CLE,” (August 2018)
- Presenter, “Farm to Retail: Food Supply Chain Liability and Supply Agreements,” American Agricultural Law Association Annual Agricultural Law Symposium (October 2017)
- Presenter, “Food Safety: What Do Clients Need to Know in 2017?,” Oregon State Bar Agricultural Law Section Ag Law Round Up (May 2017)
- “Compliance Primer: Foreign Investment In US Real Property,” Law360, 27 October 2023
- “Intercreditor & Co-Lender Agreements: Post-Covid Impacts,” Bloomberg Law, 30 January 2023
- Washington Lawyers Practice Manual, Chapter 15 - Commercial Practice, Part Three: Secured Transactions under the Uniform Commercial Code, 2014-present
- Co-author, “Real Property Practice Tip: Don’t Be Misled By the Title - The Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 Applies to More Than Just Agricultural Transactions,” WSBA Real Property Probate & Trust Newsletter, Winter 2017
