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I'm currently a Summer Associate in San Francisco/Silicon Valley, thinking of joining the Real Estate group. I'm concerned about exit opportunities down the road, however. Does anyone have any tips about the real estate legal employment market in general? In SF/SV? Are there a lot of opportunities for real estate attorneys outside of BigLaw? Thanks!

Bump, but for real estate in LA, incoming associate. TYIA

Curious about this too actually.

Smaller boutique real estate firms are one option, and I've also seen people go in-house at REITs. Probably others but those are two I've seen.

Based on conversations I've had with associates, people on the partnership track at top firms have the option of joining on the business side of real estate developers. Other people might have these options 3-5 years out as well.

I deal with property development companies all day long and most of them have in-house counsel or outside counsel (that is typically a one or two person shop). Most of the in-house and outside counsel people have a history with real estate at a Biglaw firm.

Thanks! Any idea about how the work at REITs, developers, and boutique firms compares to BigLaw in terms of hours and pay? Are these options fairly available or very competitive and few and far between?

I summered at a real estate boutique and roughly 80% of the attorneys were full service firm ex-pats