Commercial Real Estate Attorney

About the role

Our client is a respected boutique real estate firm that has served the Bay Area market for more than two decades. Their practice centers on commercial real estate transactions: acquisitions, dispositions, and leasing. They represent developers, landlords, tenants, technology companies, and institutional investors. The firm is large enough to handle complex, high-profile matters and small enough that every attorney works directly with leadership and owns their files. Work-life balance is part of how the firm is run, not just something it says in recruiting materials.

This position is hosted by Gavin Gruwell.

Benefits

• 1,600 billable hour expectation, well below big-firm targets
• Defined path to partnership, with mentorship from senior attorneys and founding partners
• Growth role created by rising deal flow, not a replacement for someone who left
• Diverse, long-standing client base across developers, landlords, tenants, tech companies, and institutional investors
• Direct involvement in high-profile, complex deals without big-firm layers
• Collaborative culture where balance is respected

Pay

Salary: $250,000 - $350,000 per year

Responsibilities

• Draft, review, and negotiate commercial real estate documents every day, including purchase and sale agreements, office, retail, and industrial leases, and asset management agreements
• Represent both landlords and tenants on leasing matters
• Run commercial transactions from start to finish, including due diligence, title and survey review, and closing
• Manage your own matters independently and work with partners and senior attorneys on complex deals
• Serve as a primary point of contact for clients and own the client relationship

Requirements

• J.D. from an accredited law school, licensed and in good standing
• 7+ years of commercial real estate transactional practice at a law firm. PSAs, leases, and closings should be your day-to-day work, not an occasional matter
• Ability to start at full speed. There will be onboarding, but this role needs someone who already knows the work
• Experience at a smaller or mid-size firm with broad generalist CRE exposure is a strong plus
• Stable tenure history
• Transactional focus. This is not a litigation role
• Strong drafting, organizational, and analytical skills, with excellent attention to detail
• Strong client service skills and a desire to own your matters