How To Learn How To Be A Realestate Closing Attorney

commercial real estate office building deal transaction closing handshake shaking hands Ed. note: Welcome to the latest installment of Amend Know A Practice Area, a serial introducing readers to dissimilar practice areas. Each post is written by an editor at Practical Law who previously skilful in that area and currently writes nigh it. Prior columns accept covered uppercase markets and corporate governance, securities litigation and enforcement, patent litigation, executive bounty, commercial transactions, and labor and employment.

Today'south topic: life equally a existent-manor lawyer.

i. What do you do in a typical day?

There is no such thing as a "typical" solar day in existent estate practice. Each day varies depending on the type and stage of the transaction being worked on. Each transaction presents its own unique prepare of problems, so handling those issues more often than not dictates how a workday volition unfold.

A typical 24-hour interval may include performing extensive due diligence, which would include reviewing title, surveys, 3rd-party reports, and other items pertinent to obtaining a comprehensive legal understanding of the project. Other days may exist spent drafting, reviewing and negotiating documents necessary to complete the particular transaction, such as loan documents, purchase and sale agreements, leases and other coincident documents.

Closing a real estate transaction requires extensive coordination with the client and opposing counsel. Accordingly, lawyers may spend large chunks of time during the day discussing issues with their client or opposing counsel in gild to properly document, negotiate and close a bargain.

2. Who do you lot work with?

It is common in large law firms for real estate transactions to be staffed with attorneys at differing levels of feel. Small transactions typically consist of one law firm partner, 1 associate and occasionally a paralegal. Larger transactions involving multiple backdrop may include, in improver to a law house partner, multiple junior and senior associates, in gild to timely meet the client's expectations.

Accordingly, it is typical for a junior lawyer to piece of work with a constabulary firm partner or a more senior attorney during the course of a deal. A junior associate may be asked to sit in on conference calls that the partner conducts with the client or opposing counsel and in some instances, a junior associate may exist asked to contact third parties direct to complete discrete tasks on a transaction.

Sometimes problems arise during a transaction that require the expertise and involvement of an internal lawyer from some other field, such every bit tax, environmental or land use. When this is the example, the specialized lawyer generally assists the real estate bargain team with guidance on the detail issue.

three. What does a common career path look like?

Almost lawyers in this practise area volition offset out as an acquaintance at a large or mid-size law business firm to proceeds experience. The junior years are usually spent learning how to manage and close a transaction past profitable partners or more senior lawyers. Every bit an associate becomes more senior and their skill prepare grows, information technology is common to pursue a partnership rails at a police firm. A lawyer interested in making partner must be able to run transactions without oversight and will focus on developing their own volume of business organization. Others forgo the partnership track and may transition to a smaller law business firm or an in-house position for a customer or other real estate company.

iv. If variety is the spice of life, how spicy is this practice area?

Closing existent estate transactions involves many moving parts, and each existent estate project brings its ain complexities and unique issues. Accordingly, there is quite a bit of multifariousness and excitement in this practise area that lends itself to interesting new challenges on a daily basis. Closing a transaction requires all-encompassing coordination, from reviewing championship and surveys, to drafting and negotiating purchase agreements and loan documents. It besides typically requires interaction with opposing counsel and other parties. For example, when endmost an conquering for a large retail shopping center filled with numerous ballast tenants, a lawyer may need to bargain with large national retailers that are tenants in the shopping center. The interaction with multiple parties required to close a transaction helps proceed this practice stimulating.

At that place are too intangible benefits that keep this do interesting. After closing on the purchase, sale or refinance of a real manor project, it is rewarding to drive by the projection and admire the fruits of your labor firsthand.

5. How much vesture and tear?

Real estate is an extremely loftier-paced practice area. The demands from clients to close deals apace tin sometimes have a cost. Long hours and weekends are the norm for lawyers in this do area in social club to complete the diligence, drafting and negotiations required to effectively shut transactions for clients.

6. Of the people in this practice grouping who hate information technology, what exactly practice they hate most it?

The most common complaint relates to the long hours put in by practitioners in order to timely close transactions. Other common complaints involve the unrelenting force per unit area in large law firms to maintain high billable hours and loftier collections. These demands tin can take a toll on a lawyer over time.

7. Of the people in this exercise group who love it, what exactly do they dearest near it?

Most real estate transactions have a discrete beginning and terminate. Consequently, lawyers in this surface area derive satisfaction from the fact that deals rarely linger and are completed over a period of months rather than years. In improver, each real estate bargain has its own unique issues. Navigating these issues with clients presents its own challenges, but provides intellectual stimulation.

eight. Are there common avenues out of this practice area?

While other practice areas are more fluid and offer numerous paths out of the practice of police force, this do area is somewhat express. Some existent estate lawyers will transition during their career from practicing police at a large law business firm to an in-house position at a bank, insurance visitor, national retailer or other institutional existent estate company. However, beyond the in-firm track, there is non a natural progression from this practice area into other common career paths.

9. What are some marketplace trends that affect this practice surface area?

This practice area is heavily impacted by general business cycles and trends in the economy. During periods when the economy is growing and involvement rates are low, the real estate market tends to prosper, and there are a multitude of real manor acquisitions and refinancings. The emergence of commercial mortgage-backed securities financing for real estate projects has also helped fuel the growth in the real estate marketplace. However, during recessionary periods, many retailers are reluctant to open new stores or expand their footprint, and lenders are cautious about making new existent manor loans. These trends touch the pool of existent estate transactions that occur.

x. If yous had to recommend 1 candidate from a room crowded with recent bar exam graduates, what specific qualities would he or she have that would ensure success in this practice area?

Qualities necessary to ensure success in this practice area include attention to detail, the ability to anticipate issues, and the ability to provide guidance to clients to help navigate and shut a transaction. The ability to juggle competing demands is also important, since many lawyers find themselves working on multiple projects at the aforementioned time and need to effectively prioritize their daily workload and so that they do not miss critical deadlines.

Julie Schwartzberg

Julie Schwartzberg is the senior state editor in Florida on Practical Police's Real Estate team. She focuses on acquisitions, leasing and financing related to commercial existent manor. Prior to joining Practical Law, she was a shareholder with Greenberg Traurig.