Anderson, Benjamin Houston

Tom Andersen has practiced law in Lawrenceville since his graduation from law school in 1974. After specializing in real estate, banking and commercial finance as a partner in two other Lawrenceville firms, in 1988 Mr. Andersen founded what is now Andersen, Tate & Carr, P.C. as a practice with his wife, Ethel Andersen. Since then, the law firm has grown from two lawyers to thirty lawyers with over seventy employees. Mr. Andersen has been named a Georgia Super Lawyer multiple times, most recently for 2010 by the Atlanta Magazine and Law & Politics in the practice area of Real Estate, and he is included in the 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 editions of The Best Lawyers in America in the specialty of real estate law.

Mr. Andersen has concentrated his practice in real estate and banking, with primary emphasis on commercial and residential real estate acquisition, land use, development and finance. His commercial real estate practice includes representation of developers in acquisition and development of office, office and industrial, retail, light manufacturing, mixed use and other commercial projects. Recent significant projects include the representation of the purchaser in acquiring the Northeast segment of the Atlanta Beltline from Norfolk Southern Railway Corporation and the subsequent negotiation of sales contracts and transfer of development rights for portions of the Beltline; the assemblage of the fee simple, easement, and license interests necessary to construct and operate the 5.1 mile conveyor belt to move dirt from various locations in Clayton County, Georgia, to the fifth runway being constructed at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport; and the acquisition and financing of approximately 80 separate convenience store locations in Florida, Georgia and Alabama out of a bankruptcy proceeding involving a large convenience store owner. His residential real estate practice includes representation of developers in acquisition and development of single family residential subdivision and multifamily townhouse and apartment communities, establishment of residential condominium regimes and conversion of apartment communities to condominiums. His banking and financial institution practice involves representation of institutional lenders in loan transactions secured by real property and personal property, regulatory compliance issues, preparation of standard forms used by various financing institutions, preparation of participation and intercreditor agreements between lenders, and representation of institutional lenders in loan workouts and foreclosure proceedings.

Mr. Andersen attended Emory University Law School where he received his Juris Doctor degree in 1974. He attended Duke University and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics, magna cum laude, from Oglethorpe University in 1971 where he was the recipient of the Faculty Award for Scholarship.

Mr. Andersen is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and the American Bar Association. He is past Chairman and a present Board member of the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, past President and a present Board member of the Council for Quality Growth, past Treasurer and Board member of the Regional Business Coalition, and is actively involved as a Board member in various other civic and charitable organizations in Gwinnett County including the Gwinnett Medical Center Hospital Foundation and the Georgia Gwinnett College Foundation, for which he serves on the Board of Trustees. In early 2006, he received the Public Service Award from the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. He is the recipient of the Sam Walton Business Leader Award recognizing local business leaders in the community, and was a finalist in 2001 for the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce Small Business Person of the Year Award. He has also spoken at Professionalism seminars sponsored by the Georgia Bar Association, and is a Mentor under the Transition Into Law Practice Program of the State Bar of Georgia. Mr. Andersen has been given and continues to maintain an "AV" rating by the Martindale-Hubbell National Legal Directory, the highest such designation given for both lawyer competence and integrity.