Sharon Beth-Halachmy Funkhouser Vegosen Liebman & Dunn Ltd. 55 West Monroe Street Suite 2300 Chicago, Illinois 60603 TEL: 312.701.6875 FAX: 312.701.6801

Sharon was born in Israel and grew up in Northern California. She received her B.A. from Claremont McKenna College in 1990 and received her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1996. Following her graduation from law school, Sharon worked at a mid-size Chicago law firm in both the corporate and employment departments. Thereafter, Sharon worked at one of the largest law firms in Tel Aviv, Israel, where she concentrated on general corporate matters and private equity transactions. She joined Funkhouser Vegosen Liebman & Dunn Ltd. in the fall of 2003.

Sharon has a broad base of experience representing American and international clients in corporate, finance and real estate transactions. She has served as counsel in private equity and debt offerings, loans and other forms of financing transactions as well as corporate mergers and acquisitions. She has also represented borrowers, lenders and developers in commercial real estate transactions. Sharon has also negotiated and drafted a wide variety of commercial agreements, including licensing agreements, purchase contracts and various marketing agreements, including distributor, franchise, supply and product development agreements. Sharon has also participated in the representation of issuing companies and selling shareholders in NASDAQ offerings, as well as handling other securities-related matters for publicly held companies.

Sharon also has experience in labor and employment law. She has assisted in the defense of employment discrimination claims based on gender, age, race, disability, religion and sexual harassment. In addition to counseling clients on various personnel matters, she has worked on employment disputes and has negotiated and drafted a variety of employment-related agreements including severance agreements, stock option agreements and other forms of employee and executive compensation agreements. Sharon has also contributed to several articles and presented seminars for clients on various employment law topics such as sexual harassment in the workplace and the Family Medical Leave Act.

Sharon is an Israeli national and speaks English and Hebrew fluently. As such, she has a particularly strong relationship with Israel, providing counsel to Israeli companies with respect to their U.S. operations and to U.S. companies and individuals doing business in Israel. Having practiced law in both Israel and the U.S., Sharon is instrumental in bridging the cultural divide between Israel and American business practices. In addition to her legal practice, Sharon serves on the board member of the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce in Chicago, and she has spoken both in Israel and the United States about legal issues companies face conducting business abroad.

Sharon and her husband are avid travelers and particularly enjoy exploring third-world countries. Their journeys have taken them to Central America, South America, Africa, the Far East, the Middle East and Europe. They have three children.