Real Estate Law Firm Owners?

Question

Hey everyone, I'm a current law student and am interested in Real Estate Law with the goal of one day having my own firm within the RE M&A niche. I'd love to hear about any firm owners' perspectives on building a real estate law firm!

What experience did you have prior to building your firm?

How much capital did you start out with?

How much do you make now?

If you could go back in time, would you stay in the niche or move to a different legal niche?

Thanks, everyone. I look forward to learning about your journey.

Joseph Cacciapaglia · Answer

I was only an attorney for a short time, and never owned my own firm, but I did work in real estate for both a large firm and for an independent attorney. In the large firm, I worked on complex $100MM+ commercial deals, and in the small firm I worked on residential real estate transactions. The former was very interesting and challenging, the latter was boring and monotonous. Even the "creative" residential deals all look the same after just a few months. I think it's very difficult to generate the type of business the large firms handle with your own small office, unless you work in a larger firm for a while and then leave with clients. I'm sure there are exceptions, but I didn't come across any.