Real estate law concerns every aspect of
commercial and residential transactions and investments. It involves issues related to the purchase and sale of property, including financing and development, construction contracts, real estate investments, property management, environmental compliance, and litigation relating to these areas. Real estate lawyers provide their clients with advice concerning all of these matters. They also help their clients navigate through the governmental zoning restrictions and land use regulations necessary in order to move forward with a real estate project.
Real estate lawyers who work on commercial real estate often work in the real estate departments of large firms, many times working in conjunction with the environmental law and litigation departments. Other real estate lawyers work for the government, in the building and zoning departments of counties and municipalities. Real estate lawyers may also work for corporations, real estate development companies, financial or lending institutions, or title companies. Lawyers working in solo or small firms generally handle residential real estate transactions.
Core/Foundation Courses
These are the entry level courses that -- at a minimum -- employers expect a student interested in this specialty to have .
- Real Estate Transactions
- Tax I (A or B)
Recommended Courses
Students interested in this practice area should consider including one or more of the following courses as electives. [Students may also want to consider classes through the School of Business ( limited to 6 credits applicable towards the J.D.)]
- Advanced Legal Writing: Contract Drafting
- Business Organizations I
- Income Tax of Real Estate Transactions
- Land Use
- Negotiation/Mediation
- Remedies
- Secured Transactions
Enrichment Courses
These courses deepen or broaden the skills and substantive information that a lawyer in this field needs and also provide advanced courses for students interested in a specialty area.
- Administrative Law
- Environmental Law and Practice
- Fundamentals of Business Transactions I
- Introduction to Environmental Law
- Lawyering Skills
- L&CP: Community Economic Development Law
- L&CP: Property Law & Rural Development
- Water Rights Law
