Real Estate Lawyers
Overview
Introduction
Lawyers who specialize in legal issues regarding real estate are called real estate lawyers or real estate attorneys. They provide advice on title and deed transfers, mortgage contracts, financing options, and other real estate topics. Real estate lawyers handle private, industrial, and commercial holdings. The American College of Real Estate Lawyers is a national organization that promotes high professional standards in the practice of real estate law.
Quick Facts
Median Salary
Employment Prospects
Minimum Education Level
Experience
Skills
Personality Traits
Earnings
Incomes generally increase as the lawyer gains experience and becomes better known in the field. The beginning lawyer in solo practice may barely make ends meet for the first few years. The National Association for Law Placement reports that first-year associate lawyers earned median first-year base salaries of $155,000 in 2019. This was an increase of 14.8 percent from 2017. Salaries ranged fr...
Work Environment
Law offices are usually pleasant, although busy, places to work. Lawyers also spend significant amounts of time in law libraries or record rooms, and in the homes and offices of clients. They may also do onsite visits or investigations of property for a particular case. They may represent clients at closings or court appearances.
Often real estate lawyers have to work long hours, spendin...
Outlook
According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, employment for lawyers in general is expected grow about as fast as the average for all careers through 2028. A large number of law school graduates have created strong competition for jobs.
Although the housing market stabilized and recovered following the Great Recession, new economic woes accompanied the coronavirus (COVID-19) o...