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Hi everybody, if this is in an inappropriate place please let me know. I am an incoming 2L Summer Associate at at V50 firm in NYC. The firm sent us a thing asking which practice groups we would like to engage with and then (as my understanding and based on firm needs) be hired into after the summer. This obviously does not mean we get to just pick because it is based on what the firm actually wants and etc. However, I want to do real estate transactional as my "main" pick because I am interested in the group and this firm is apparently pretty good in the area.

I have very limited knowledge on big law lateraling/exit opportunities, so these questions are more just for more information than actually pertaining to any plan I have.

However, my questions were:

Do many big law firms have a real estate group? I am very happy with my firm in NYC and intend to spend years there, but I do eventually want to lateral to my smaller home market to be closer to family down the line. Would this be a problem if I stay in real estate practice group? The home market is what I think I have seen tossed around here as a secondary market. It has a few home big law firms and a few satellite offices (none from my firm though).

Also, what do exit opportunities for big law real estate look like? Are they exceedingly rare? I imagine they are less plentiful than general corporate, but I genuinely have absolutely no idea.

I know some of this might seem premature, but I am a big planner by nature so I just want to have all the relevant information before really going down this path. Furthermore, I do fully realize I might not even end up in the real estate group because it is ultimately not my choice, so I understand that all of this might be completely irrelevant.

Thank you for helping me procrastinate on finals hahaha

Almost every firm has a "real estate" practice group. However, it can be either an independent group or more of a service group that supports M&A or other groups. Some people really do not like the latter, as it hurts or prohibits client growth and career growth.

Big law real estate is small enough, in my opinion, that the lateral opportunities are insane. There just aren't many people with experience at the top level when it comes to real estate, so those who have it are in high demand. If you're only doing dirt work or title work, your lateral oppportunities (when it comes to top firms) will drop immensely. You'll mostly be looking at lateraling to mid-level firms. Lastly, real estate has a lot of overlap (assuming you're doing more than title and survey), so it isn't impossible to switch to a new practice group.

For exit opportunities, you'd be looking at real estate funds, developers/sponsors, and potentially various other companies if you do leasing work. These are pretty regular and common. Salary won't be near as high as other industries, however, unless you go to a large fund.

I’m a real estate associate and just left biglaw for a midsize firm. I agree with the previous poster. Almost every firm has a real estate group, but the main difference is whether the group is an independent group or a corporate service group.

Generally, a real estate practice is a pretty broad umbrella. You’ll find some partners specializing in purchase and sales, some partners specializing in real estate finance and some partners specializing in leasing. There are also specializations in hospitality (think condos, planned developments, hotels, etc.), renewable energy project finance, construction, property management and tax. It might be more helpful to maintain a broader practice with purchase and sale and leasing if you’re thinking of lateraling to a secondary office.

Since real estate is a transactional practice, I’ve felt comfortable (and have been asked at my biglaw firm) to step in as a junior associate for m&a, renewable energy and finance deals in a corporate role when the corporate associates needed more hands.

As for exit opportunities, many of my former colleagues landed in-house positions at tech companies (Apple, Amazon, Tesla, Uber, etc.). They seem to mainly be doing leasing. Some of my former colleagues interviewed for developers, but they required much more experience (8+ years) than what they had.