Blue Crane hires Rose Law Firm attorney as first-ever general counsel

by Paul Gatling ([email protected]) 1,908 views 

Bentonville developer Blue Crane has hired its first general counsel.

Madeline Taylor, a business and transactional attorney for Rose Law Firm in Fayetteville, is expected to begin the job on March 17.

“As the number of Blue Crane projects that are operational and in development has grown, we needed an in-house legal resource,” Blue Crane CEO Jared Faciszewski said. “Madeline has an impressive background. But most importantly, she is an Arkansan and shares Blue Crane’s deep love and commitment to this region.”

Taylor practiced at Rose Law Firm for six years. The firm promoted her to member in 2019, the same year she moved from Little Rock to Northwest Arkansas to work in the firm’s Fayetteville office.

Taylor earned an English literature degree from Princeton University in 2008 and a law degree from Washington University in St. Louis in 2011.

She practiced law for five years in Tulsa, Okla., first for a law firm and later in-house for a privately-owned company in the energy industry. She returned to her home state in 2016 and earned the top score on the Arkansas Bar Examination in February 2018.

The Northwest Arkansas Business Journal honored Taylor as a Forty Under 40 honoree in 2020.

Blue Crane is the real estate acquisition and development arm of Runway Group, a diversified holding company based in Bentonville and led by Steuart Walton and his younger brother, Tom Walton. They are the grandsons of Walmart founder Sam Walton and the sons of Arvest Bank Group Inc. chairman and CEO Jim Walton. Some of its notable Northwest Arkansas projects include 8th Street Market, Skylight Cinema, Crystal Flats, The Record and Blake St. House.