Lema Khorshid is one of the founding partners at Fuksa Khorshid, LLC. Lema handles a wide range of corporate legal and real estate matters for small- to mid-sized, closely held businesses in Chicago and New York. For the past several years, she has also been lead legal counsel on matters that have taken her business clients all over the globe.

Lema’s transactional practice also encompasses a variety of commercial real estate matters across a comprehensive array of asset classes, including office, industrial, multi-family, and hospitality/retail. She represents private equity funds and real estate developers in the acquisition and development of real estate and has serviced the leasing, acquisition and development deals for many of her clients. Lema also handles zoning changes and liquor licensing matters for her local restaurant and hospitality clients. She has advised clients on debt/equity structures for real estate acquisition and mergers. She has extensive experience advising on and negotiating commercial deals.

Lema is frequently invited to guest speak at Small Business Centers all over Chicago, where she teaches workshops to entrepreneurs on how to be proactive about a myriad of legal and business issues that may affect their businesses. For the last few years, she has taught a workshop called Something Negotiated™ whereby she teaches business owners key negotiation techniques that help them succeed in business and in life. In 2009, Lema was honored by the Business Ledger for being one of the twenty-two influential women in business in Chicago.  In 2013, she earned a feature article in Chicago Social Magazine for her dedication and support to helping women entrepreneurs succeed. In 2018, she was featured for as a notable lawyer in Crain’s Chicago Business.

Lema sits on the Advisory Board for the Women’s Business Development Center. She recently joined the Women’s Board of Partners in Health, which delivers health care to the world’s impoverished and supports women in underprivileged communities have access to quality healthcare. She has chaired several large-scale fundraisers to support arts and cultural initiatives in underprivileged communities; brought awareness to Chicago’s fashion and arts scene; and, raised thousands of dollars to support educational initiatives for entrepreneurs. Since 2006, she founded and chaired BizOver™, a large-scale marketing and networking platform for women business owners that has been sponsored by Neiman Marcus.

Prior to being a partner at Fuksa Khorshid, LLC, Lema spent over six years consulting several prominent retail, hospitality and entertainment clients on their branding and public relations strategies in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

Lema received two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in Finance and Marketing, with a concentration in International Business and Italian (2000). She received her Juris Doctorate from Loyola University School of Law in Chicago (2004). She is proficient in Arabic, French, and Italian.

In her time away from the office, Lema loves international travel, is a self-proclaimed foodie, and has a penchant for fashion and film.