Highlight your specialized real estate law experience

When applying for a real estate lawyer position, it's crucial to showcase your specialized experience in this field. Hiring managers want to see that you have a deep understanding of real estate law and have worked on relevant cases.

In your resume, emphasize your experience with:

• Negotiating and drafting purchase and sale agreements for commercial properties valued at $50M+
• Representing clients in complex land use and zoning matters, successfully obtaining variances and permits for 10+ projects
• Conducting due diligence for real estate transactions, identifying and mitigating legal risks for deals worth $100M+

Expand

   Demonstrate your strong transaction and contract skills

Real estate law involves a significant amount of transactional work and contract drafting. Employers want to see that you have strong skills in these areas.

Weak resumes often include generic statements like:

• Experienced in contract drafting
• Skilled in real estate transactions

Instead, provide specific examples that demonstrate the depth of your skills:

• Drafted and negotiated 50+ commercial leases for office, retail, and industrial properties
• Managed all legal aspects of real estate transactions, from due diligence to closing, for deals ranging from $5M to $100M+
• Developed standardized contract templates for purchase and sale agreements, reducing drafting time by 30%

   Showcase your client management and communication abilities

As a real estate lawyer, you'll work closely with clients ranging from individuals to large corporations. Employers want to see that you have strong client management and communication skills.

Highlight your experience with:

• Advising and guiding clients through complex real estate transactions, ensuring smooth closings and positive outcomes
• Communicating legal concepts and strategies to clients in clear, non-technical language
• Building and maintaining strong relationships with clients, resulting in a 90% client retention rate and 50% of new business from referrals

   Feature your leadership and teamwork skills

Real estate law often involves working on teams and collaborating with other professionals, such as brokers, architects, and engineers. Showcase your leadership and teamwork abilities on your resume.

Weak resumes might say:

• Worked on a team of lawyers and support staff
• Managed junior associates

Strong resumes provide specific examples:

• Led a team of 5 lawyers and 3 paralegals in a $500M mixed-use development project, successfully closing the deal on time and under budget
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams, including brokers, architects, and engineers, to ensure smooth project execution and client satisfaction
• Mentored and trained 3 junior associates, providing guidance on complex legal issues and helping them develop their skills

   Include your bar admissions and professional memberships

Employers want to know that you are licensed to practice law in the relevant jurisdictions and are actively involved in the real estate law community. Be sure to include your bar admissions and professional memberships on your resume.

Bar Admissions:
- New York State Bar, 2015
- New Jersey State Bar, 2016

Professional Memberships:
- American Bar Association, Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section
- New York State Bar Association, Real Property Law Section

If you have held leadership positions or been actively involved in these organizations, highlight that as well:

• Served as Chair of the New York State Bar Association's Real Property Law Section, leading a committee of 50+ lawyers and organizing educational events and networking opportunities

   Highlight your education and relevant coursework

While your work experience is the most important part of your resume, your education and relevant coursework can also help you stand out to employers. Be sure to include:

• Your law degree (J.D.) and any honors or awards you received
• Your undergraduate degree and any relevant coursework or academic achievements
• Any additional certifications or training in real estate law

For example:

J.D., cum laude, Harvard Law School, 2015
- Concentration in Real Estate Law
- Harvard Law Review, Senior Editor

B.A., Economics, summa cum laude, Princeton University, 2012
- Thesis: "The Impact of Zoning Laws on Housing Prices"
- Phi Beta Kappa

By highlighting your education and relevant coursework, you can demonstrate to employers that you have a strong foundation in real estate law and are committed to ongoing learning and professional development.