John E. Freechack
Partner, Attorney at Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg LLP
About
John E. Freechack, a Partner at Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg LLP in Chicago, has spent more than 40 years on mergers and acquisitions for financial institutions. He has guided hundreds of financial institutions and advised the boards that direct them. His clients include public companies, regional banks, and community banks. He founded the firm's Financial Institutions Group and served as its co-chair. He still counsels those institutions on the purchase and sale of banks. John earned his J.D. from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in 1975, after a B.A. from Northwestern University in 1972. He has taught banking law as an adjunct professor for 25 years, at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law since 2001 and in the graduate financial services program at IIT/Chicago Kent College of Law. Chambers USA ranked him in its Financial Services Regulation band from 2022 to 2024, and the Illinois Bankers Association gave him its Distinguished Bank Counsel Award, one of only three such awards. He founded the Community Bank Subcommittee of the American Bar Association Business Law Section's Banking Law Committee and later chaired it. He co-edits Advising Illinois Financial Institutions, a two-volume handbook, while he continues to counsel bank clients on merger and acquisition deals.
Who is a good fit for John E. Freechack
- Boards of community banks preparing a sale of the institution.
- Public companies acquiring a regional bank and needing deal counsel.
- Directors of a bank who want counsel while a merger is negotiated.
Education and admissions
- Education
- Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, J.D., 1975
- Northwestern University, B.A., 1972
- Bar admissions
- Illinois
Recognition
- Band Ranked, Chambers USA (2022-2024), Financial Services Regulation
Specialties
Deal profile
- Typical deal size
- Any deal size
- Remote work
- In-person / regional