Christopher Picone

Christopher L. Picone is the owner, President, and General Counsel of Picone Advisory Group, LLC, a corporate financial advisory firm. He is a legal, financial, and operating professional with more than 30 years of experience spanning financial restructurings, turnarounds, bankruptcy, litigation support, real estate development, construction, and asset management. The firm provides corporate financial advisory services — work-outs, turnarounds, restructurings, chief restructuring officer (CRO) engagements, financing, M&A, due diligence, strategic planning, crisis management, and expert-witness/litigation support — to an international client base across industries including financial and professional services, manufacturing, aerospace, building and construction, food service, homeland security, healthcare, energy, real estate, technology, telecommunications, and transportation.

Picone began his career at a Chicago law firm, where for roughly a decade he focused on real estate, federal income tax, and corporate transactions. He subsequently moved into operating leadership roles, serving as President, Chief Operating Officer, and General Counsel for several large Chicago-based real estate and general-contracting firms. As a principal of a Chicago real estate development firm, he was the successful "stalking horse" bidder for a 210-unit residential project in southwestern Michigan, and he also served as COO/General Counsel of a major privately held real estate brokerage and as President of a Chicago general contractor specializing in retail and office construction.

He holds a Juris Doctor (with Distinction) from John Marshall Law School in Chicago, an LLM in Taxation from DePaul University, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Loyola University of Chicago. He is a member of the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) and the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI).

In August 2017, Picone was named to the advisory board of K8 Ventures, LLC, a Chicago-based firm that invests in early-stage companies "addressing the human condition." In that capacity he advises portfolio companies on customer acquisition, capital raising, strategic and financial planning, and legal and business matters — the same restructuring, M&A, and operating skill set he brings to his advisory practice.

• Operates primarily as an early-stage/seed advisor and angel-adjacent investor through his advisory-board role at K8 Ventures, which backs early-stage companies that "address the human condition."
• Brings a turnaround/operator lens rather than a pure-finance lens — he is most useful where a company needs help with capital structure, M&A, restructuring, strategic planning, and legal/operational execution.
• Sector-agnostic in practice, drawing on cross-industry experience (real estate/construction, manufacturing, professional and financial services, technology/software).
• Value-add areas he explicitly engages on: customer acquisition, capital raising, strategic/financial planning, and legal & business guidance.