Top Law Schools

I am a 1l and am 99% sure I want to do real estate law. What kind of summer jobs should i be looking for besides the very rare firm jobs?

It doesn't seem like working for a judge or a DA office or other types of government offices would be very applicable. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Many times the state, city or county will have real estate departments in their attorney's office. That would be a good start if you can't get a firm, but don't rule out small/mid sized firms for your first year summer if you don't land a big firm. Mass mail them and let them know you are interested in real estate.

In addition to government and small/mid-sized real estate or environmental boutiques (environmental law is fundamentally tied to real estate practice), also look to see who the big real estate developers/commercial landlords are in the market where you want to work and see if they have a general counsel who might be looking for a legal intern.

Check the local business journals (most of these are owned by the same company, so go to businessjournals.com and then choose a city) who put out annual lists of the top local businesses in each category; you can buy the lists online for fairly cheap or just click on the commercial real estate news section and read through articles to see what companies keep getting mentioned. Even something as simple as paying attention when you pass office, retail, or industrial buildings that have a for lease sign up. If you're seeing the same company over and over, odds are good they're one of the bigger players in town.

If you're aiming high for a career trajectory, you might also want to contact national real estate companies as well and be willing to spend your summer wherever their HQ is if their GC's office will take you on. Some to look at include JLL, Trammell Crow, Weingarten, Stream Realty, Charles Dunn, Simon, Jones Lang LaSalle, CB Richard Ellis, etc.

ETA: here's a starter list for big landlords: http://images.businessweek.com/slidesho ... -landlords

Thanks guys! this is a big help.

Anything that gives you experience with standard real estate documents: SNDAs, leases, marketing agreements, retail leasing forms. I would definitely look at some big real estate companies and possibly apartment management companies and find out if they hire interns for their legal departments. Alternatively, find some smaller real-estate focused firms in your area that probably don't come to OCI and email them to ask about internship opportunities.