Ulysses Clayborn is the managing member of Clayborn & Associates, LLC, a law firm located in Kansas City, Missouri whose practice is focused in the real estate development area. Mr. Clayborn, known to his friends and colleagues as “Deke”, has practiced in the real estate and transactional areas of the law for more than twenty-five (25) years. During that time he has represented the interests of lenders, developers, bond issuers, municipal governments and underwriters in a variety of commercial real estate projects. These projects have ranged from the development of commercial office buildings to a municipal golf course. While his practice has been extensive, it has been targeted in the area of multifamily and residential housing development. Deke is able to deliver the full range of legal services, including entity formation, due diligence review, preparation of loan closing documents and the conducting of loan closing.  

 

Deke first gained exposure to the real estate area while serving as an attorney with the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). During his tenure there he served as a real estate closing attorney and gained experience with HUD insured housing programs such as those financed under Sections221(d)(3), 221(d)(4), 236 and 202/811 programs.

 

In 1991, while working with a municipal bond firm headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, Deke developed an expertise in the municipal finance area.  During his tenure there, he worked primarily with the firm’s tax counsel and addressed the tax consequences associated with the arbitrage, defeasance and refunding of bond issues. He also prepared indentures, resolutions and other bond documents.  He gained additional experience in the municipal bond and revenue bond area while serving as general counsel to the state housing financing agency MHDC. There, he served as issuer's counsel to the agency in connection with its multi-family housing bond program. He gained additional experience while serving as the General Counsel to the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC). During his tenure at MHDC, Deke worked on hundreds of affordable housing projects financed with a variety of funding sources. In 2007, he left MHDC to form Clayborn & Associates, which provided legal services to a variety of clients to assist them with their development projects.

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Deke believes in bar service and currently serves in several capacities, including the following; Chair of the Real Estate and Probate Law Section of the National Bar Association (NBA), Member, NBA Board of Governors; Member of the Standing Committee for Lawyers Title Guaranty Funds for the American Bar Association (ABA); Member, ABA’s Property Preservation Taskforce; ABA’s Community Outreach Project. In addition he has served as President of the Jackson County Bar Association (JCBA), Chair of the Special Committee for Minorities and Women for the Missouri Bar.  He is a frequent speaker on NBA, ABA, and JCBA programs.

 

Education 

 

DePauw University: Bachelor's of Arts (B.A.) in Political Science 

University of Missouri- Kansas City: Juris Doctor (J.D.)

Washington University: Master of Laws (LL.M) in Taxation

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Bar Admissions

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• Missouri

• Kansas

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