Joseph M. Saponaro

Joseph M. Saponaro is IRG’s General Counsel, providing strategic legal guidance across the company’s nationwide commercial and industrial real estate platform. With more than 25 years of legal experience and executive leadership, he advises on corporate governance, acquisitions and dispositions, leasing, financing, development, regulatory compliance, and dispute resolution. He works closely with IRG’s executive team to structure complex transactions, manage risk, and advance the company’s business objectives.

Before joining IRG, Saponaro served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Legal Officer for Kohan Retail Investment Group, where he oversaw legal and operational matters and the negotiation of commercial leases and renewals for more than 55 shopping centers nationwide. He previously practiced as a partner with Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis; FisherBroyles; and Dinn Hochman & Potter, representing clients in sophisticated real estate, business, and financing transactions. Earlier in his career, he spent a decade as Chief Administrative Officer for a private national company.

Saponaro earned his Juris Doctor from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, a Master of Arts in Economics from Cleveland State University, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in finance from Bowling Green State University. He is admitted to practice law in Ohio and Washington, D.C. and has received an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell and recognition on the Ohio Super Lawyers list. His professional leadership has included service with the American Bar Association’s Real Property, Trusts and Estates Section and the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s Real Estate Law Institute.