Mr. Lehman is a private investor and former attorney. Mr. Lehman was an attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission from 1988 through 1992. In 1993, after practicing for a year with a mid-sized law firm in Washington, D.C., Mr. Lehman co-founded the law firm of Luse Lehman Gorman Pomerenk & Schick. Luse Lehman built a national mergers and acquisition practice: for the year 2000 the firm was ranked 3rd in the nation in the number of merger and acquisition transactions in which it represented an acquiring or selling banking institution, in 2001 the firm ranked 4th, and for the first quarter of 2002 the firm ranked 1st in the nation. Over this entire period, the firm was ranked 2nd in the nation (tied with Sullivan & Cromwell). Luse Lehman was also ranked among the top law firms in the nation in the number of stock offerings in which it represented a banking institution issuer, or underwriter. Mr. Lehman retired from Luse Lehman (since renamed Luse Gorman Pomerenk & Schick) after the first quarter of 2002 to devote more time to developing and investing in community banks.
Among other bank-developing projects, Mr. Lehman has co-founded three community banks, including Providence Bank.
In 2003, Mr. Lehman co-founded, and was the majority-owner of, Cactus Commerce Bank (since renamed Community Bank of Arizona), in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Jerry Ernst, President and CEO of Providence Bank, and Marcus Faust, Chairman of the Board of Providence Bank, were also co-founders of Cactus Commerce Bank. Although Cactus Commerce Bank was not ‘for sale’, its superior asset and deposit mix attracted an out-of-state bank, which purchased Cactus Commerce Bank for 313% of book value in a transaction that was completed 34 months after Cactus Commerce Bank was organized.
In 2005, Mr. Lehman (along with Mr. Faust) co-founded Graystone Bank, the fastest growing de novo in Pennsylvania history. Graystone Bank opened with 3 branches, and by its second anniversary had grown to 7 branches with over $400 million in assets, including over $330 million of commercial loans. Graystone Bank was profitable for its 6th and all subsequent quarters. Since its initial $16 million offering (at $6.67 per share) in November 2005, Graystone Bank conducted a $5 million offering (at $8.00 per share), a $12 million offering (at $9.33 per share), and most recently a $23 million offering (at $13.00 per share).
Mr. Lehman is involved with a number of banks throughout the nation, and in addition to his service as a director of Providence Bancorp and Providence Bank, serves on the boards of directors of Graystone Bank and Graystone Financial Corporation, Inland Community Bank and ICB Financial, Ontario, California, and Home Federal Bank of Hollywood and Home Federal Bancgroup, Hallandale Beach, Florida (a 1998 de novo).
Mr. Lehman received his BBA from Temple University (magna cum laude), his JD from University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and his LL.M. in Securities Regulation from Georgetown University Law Center (where he graduated first in his class and received the Thomas Bradbury Chetwood Award). Mr. Lehman, his wife, Joanie, and daughter, Emma, live in the Washington, D.C. area.
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