2026 Top Real Estate Law Firms
CPE’s ranking of the top law firms practicing in commercial real estate has returned.
Survey respondents reported on their activities from Oct. 1, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2025, supplemented by data from the prior two years.
Note: Though we make every effort to include all major real estatate law firms, several notable firms did not participate.
To be included in upcoming rankings, email Agota Felhazi at agota.felhazi@cpe-mhn.com.
Making deals happen across the property spectrum
CPE-MHN has brought back our Leading Real Estate Law Firms ranking! For our reintroduction, we went with a combined multifamily and commercial real estate-based ranking. The top 10 companies on our 2026 list are positioned to support commercial real estate through a year shaped by capital stack restructuring, the growth of data centers, a bifurcated office market, a rebalancing industrial sector and policy uncertainty.
Across the 2026 ranking, several trends emerged from the self-submitted data covering the period between Oct. 1, 2024, and Sept. 30, 2025. Capital markets work dominated the firms’ activities. Among top 10 firms, financing, refinancing, CMBS, mezzanine debt, preferred equity and recapitalizations appeared in nearly every list detailing the top highest-valued transactions. Data center and digital infrastructure had outgrown its niche status and now were among the biggest deals. Finally, repeat clients remained a key source of stability for the leading real estate law firms.
The top 10 firms had on average approximately 70 attorneys in their real estate divisions in 2025. The average headcount was up 5.2 percent year-over-year and up 18.3 percent compared to 2023, affirming the growing need for dedicated real estate attorneys.
Below is a more detailed look at the top 10 and honorable mentions.
Seyfarth Shaw LLP established its real estate practice in the 1980s. By 2025, it included 153 attorneys—the largest dedicated team on MHN’s list. Seyfarth Shaw LLP kept busy during the year ending in September 2025 by advising on several high-profile transactions. These included representing clients in more than $70 billion in data center transactions, advising on a $5.5 billion battery manufacturing development and representing the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio in the $1 billion sale of 590 Madison Ave.
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP’s real estate practice dates to 1927. As of 2025, the practice grew to 132 lawyers working with builders, developers, investors, lenders, owners, retailers, major landowners, non-profits as well as local agencies. The firm played a key role in several major transactions, including representing Lendlease in the carveout sale of its New York and New Jersey construction operations, including a pipeline of construction projects valued at more than $1.8 billion, to Consigli Building Group Inc.
Founded in 1937, real estate is a core practice area for Gould & Ratner LLP. The firm’s 21 real estate lawyers were involved in several notable transactions, including a $500 million-plus refinancing of a downtown Chicago office property and an $850 million deal involving a petrochemical plant, among others.
With roots dating back to 1866, the firm offered services ranging from complex financing transactions to bankruptcies, foreclosures, restructurings and workouts. Sidley Austin LLP had 58 real estate lawyers in 2025. Notable transactions included advising lenders led by JPMorgan Chase on two portfolio loans and refinancings totaling approximately $4 billion. The financial package was secured by some 445 U.S. hotel properties owned by a joint venture between Starwood and Blackstone.
Founded in Kansas City in 1878, Legacy Stinson has been providing real estate services for more than 125 years. Guided by 58 lawyers nationwide, real estate practice’s core activities revolved around acquisitions and dispositions, leasing and financing. Stinson served as lead counsel for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan., on the $838 million Homefield Project, a landmark mixed‑use development supported by STAR Bonds totaling $115 million as well as CID bonds.
Kirkland & Ellis formed its real estate practice in early 1990s and grew it to encompass 85 lawyers as of 2025. The services provided by the firm ranged from REIT formation, qualification and transaction structuring to public company M&A. The largest transaction the firm facilitated was Blue Owl’s $27 billion joint venture and lease with Meta Platforms for the Hyperion data center campus in Louisiana.
The real estate group at Squire Patton Boggs is a central component of the firm established in 1890. Services offered across the commercial real estate universe included acquisition, planning, financing, construction, leasing and disposal of assets. Notable transactions facilitated by the firm involved advising Valvoline on the $625 million acquisition of Breeze Autocare, including nearly 200 stores.
The real estate practice of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP was engaged in cross-border transactions, complex joint ventures, sophisticated capital structures and co-investment strategies, among other activities. The 21-lawyer team operates within a broader firm that was founded in 1849. The largest transaction the real estate lawyers advised on involved a $9.6 billion U.S. Department of Energy financing for EV battery plants for Ford Motor Co. and BlueOval SK. As of closing, it was the largest loan granted under the Department’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program.
Formed in 1967, Brach Eichler LLC’s real estate group included 15 lawyers. The firm had the largest share of repeat clients among the companies ranked. The largest deal facilitated by Brach Eichler was a $400 million multifamily real estate transaction for a high-quality real estate client. Deals also included several financial packages totaling $831 million for different real estate developers.
Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC formed its real estate practice in 1994 and included approximately 52 lawyers as of 2025. Services offered ranged from affordable housing and tax credit financing to title, survey and diligence matters. The largest transaction the firm advised on involved representing a developer in the $140 million sale of a portfolio of 48 properties across the U.S. completed through multiple tranches.
Honorable Mentions
Founded in 1999, Levenfeld Pearlstein was the youngest firm among the ranked companies. Its real estate group included 29 lawyers. Levenfeld Pearlstein’s largest transaction was representing a full-service real estate firm in the $501 million sale of 11 multifamily properties across nine Midwestern states. The firm provided full‑circle representation having advised on the acquisition and refinancing of all of the assets over the past 15 years.
The real estate practice of Duane Morris LLP reached back to the firm’s founding in 1904 and grew to 54 lawyers as of 2025. The largest deal the firm advised on involved the newest darling of the commercial real estate industry: data centers. The firm represented a private equity fund in structuring a $1.5 billion fund for the acquisition of AI-focused data center assets in Illinois, Texas, Nevada and California.
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP was active in the real estate space since its founding in 1901. As of 2025, the firm’s real estate group comprised 83 lawyers. In its largest transaction, the firm represented a financial institution in the sale of a $2 billion commercial real estate loan portfolio consisting of 210 loans.
Founded in 1897, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP grew to 35 office nationwide as of 2025. In its largest deal, the firm represented a consortium of developers on a master‑planned development in Coconut Creek, Fla, with an aggregate value exceeding $1 billion.
Methodology
CPE-MHN’s 2026 survey of the Leading Real Estate Law Firms utilized self-reported data for all firms. The ranking uses a weighted formula based on a variety of factors (only a few of which are specified on these pages), including revenue performance, the number of lawyers dedicated to the sector, the growth of the real estate practice and the size and nature of its top deals. The ranking represents what we feel is a logical balance between growth and market share.
— Agota Felhazi, Senior Associate Editor, Yardi Matrix
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