The National Jurist quoted me in Hot Practice Areas For J.D.s. It opens,
Real Estate is hot again
Real estate is one of the most fickle industries around — hot when the economy is growing and cold when it is not. The good news is that real estate is growing again and that means more jobs for entry-level attorneys.
Robert Half Legal, a legal staffing agency, reports that real estate lawyer is the third most in-demand legal position in the South Atlantic region. Real estate is the second-fastest-growing legal industry in the South Atlantic region and the fourth fastest in the Mountain and Pacific regions.
At Brooklyn Law School, real estate law has become the most popular specialization. Graduates are finding more jobs in the specialization’s niche areas such as cooperative and condominium representation, said professor David Reiss.
“This is, in part because of our externship program that provides students with experience in the applicable government agencies and law firms, but also because of our Real Estate Certificate program, our wide array of real estate courses and the availability of courses at nearby urban planning schools,” Reiss said. “We also offer a Real Estate Law Certificate, and we find that most or all those receiving certificates are employed pretty quickly in any given year.”
Richard Hermann, a professor of Concord Law School who has written extensively about legal careers, recommends earning certificates in niche areas of the law, as they are inexpensive ways to increase your qualifications.
“Many such programs are available, and quite a few are online and inexpensive,” he said.
While real estate can be up and down, Reiss said real estate law could be a good field even during slower economic times.
“No matter what the economy as a whole is doing, clients are still buying and selling properties, financing and refinancing them, entering into property leases”, he said.
To prepare for careers in real estate law, Brooklyn Law School encourages its students to have very focused resumes, which increases their marketability. “We find that students with focused with focused resumes, can make a compelling case to a range of real estate employers, even if their overall GPA is not high,” Reiss said.
