Real Estate/Land Use Law --> Real Estate Development Forum

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone have experience practicing real estate law and later going into the development side of the industry? How difficult is this to achieve? Is an M.B.A. invariably required in order to move to the business side, or will years of practice as a real estate lawyer make up for the lack of the academic (business) credential?

Also, does anyone know which law firms are particularly good in this area? I know Fried Frank has a stellar practice, but any other firms or boutiques worth looking at? Is this a NYC-centric practice or is it done in other cities? Any big law real estate practices in D.C.?

Thanks a bunch!

[BenJ]

Bryan Cave is the other firm in NYC that does real estate/land use. I don't think anyone else has a significant development practice (as opposed to transactions), though I might be wrong on that.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks, BenJ. Any other input?

[AreJay711]

http://www.nationalharbor.com/intro.htm

The guy that built that was a lawyer I think. Also, the developers I know (of) aren't some kind of super specialized people but just know opportunities and are able to get investors on board. If you were looking on a small scale there isn't really much to it besides looking for needs that aren't met.

[imchuckbass58]

Does anyone have experience practicing real estate law and later going into the development side of the industry? How difficult is this to achieve? Is an M.B.A. invariably required in order to move to the business side, or will years of practice as a real estate lawyer make up for the lack of the academic (business) credential?

Also, does anyone know which law firms are particularly good in this area? I know Fried Frank has a stellar practice, but any other firms or boutiques worth looking at? Is this a NYC-centric practice or is it done in other cities? Any big law real estate practices in D.C.?

Thanks a bunch!

I do not have experience, but my impression is that an MBA is not necessary. That said, your legal background won't pave the way for you. While senior real estate lawyers often move on to become developers, this isn't necessarily because of any particular legal expertise. It's more about the connections and deal flow they have by virtue of having been in the space for many years.

To your last question:
-NY: http://www.chambersandpartners.com/USA/Editorial/43228
-DC: http://www.chambersandpartners.com/USA/Editorial/42877
-CA: http://www.chambersandpartners.com/USA/Editorial/42821
-IL: http://www.chambersandpartners.com/USA/Editorial/42969


Also, do you want to do small scale real-estate development (e.g., buy and manage a few multi-unit buildings) or do the type of massive, corporate real estate development along the lines of Boston Properties, Tishman Speyer, Archstone, AvalonBay, etc? A key distinction many people gloss over is that land use/conventional real estate law is very different from the financial/transactional side of real estate law. The former is much more like your property or land use class, whereas the latter shares much more commonality with M&A or cap markets. At the larger developers, you want to practice the latter, not the former, since at that level it's much more a matter of financing.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for all your very helpful responses. My goal is to work for a firm like Tishman Speyer, Related, etc for a few years and, after getting a good foundation of how the industry functions, start my own company back home and do small-scale development and property management.

Do any of you know of any real estate development companies like Tishman that hire J.D.s? Would it be worthwhile to get an MBA or a master's in a real estate speciality?

[prezidentv8]

I'm just gonna get in on this thread because I'm massively interested in this as well.

[JDeezy]

Would love to revive this thread (or find more like it.)

Anyone else out there working towards similar goals as OP? Trying to figure out how to use a law degree/time at a Biglaw RE practice group to move into development. As a lawyer, what skills/abilities would I take into development that non-JD/biglaw developers wouldn't have? What's my competitive advantage?

[IAFG]

Why not just get a job at CBRE or whatever, I don't get it

[Hoosier2]

Also, very interested in this topic. Are there any practicing attorneys with insight?

[Anonymous User]

bump

[Anonymous User]

A young partner at the firm I summered at left to found his own NNN fund.

[pianoman4]

Bump

[Anonymous User]

Kramer Levin does a bunch of land use projects as well, and there are some consultancies run by planners that do a slew of NYC land use projects. However, I'd caution that the rarity of these practices might not bode well for career prospects in them. Generally, land use consulting from a firm is something needed in only rare occasions by a developer (I worked in-house in land use before law school). Virtually nobody in land use work has an M.B.A. Generally, it's a planning or design background that leads to development work in land use. In-house real estate is a whole different ball of wax, and those jobs are pretty desirable and ubiquitous (leasing, financing, constructing, etc.).

For real estate more broadly than just land use, though, a ton of firms work on financing on lender or borrower side of the table, since it's pretty similar to any other secured financing transaction, honestly. Those jobs tend to relate pretty well to in-house legal work across the economic spectrum, as you're working directly for your former clients.

[Magic Hat]

I am a land use attorney.

Inhouse opportunities are limited because land use counsel is hired on a jurisdiction by jurisdiction basis. It's cheaper to hire the current connected firm in each location than to keep a land use guy on staff that only has experience in front one or two agencies.