Real Estate & Property.

Deals on dirt and everything built on it — purchases, sales, leases, financing, and the disputes that follow. We close cleanly and litigate firmly when a covenant is broken, working shoulder to shoulder with our banking and finance colleagues when the capital stack gets complicated.

300+Closings completed across commercial and residential property
$2.4bnAggregate value of transactions advised on in five years
96%Of lease disputes resolved before a filing was ever needed

Overview

A property deal is only as good as its paper. We read title the way surveyors read the ground — line by line, hunting for the encumbrance, easement, or option that would otherwise surface at the worst possible moment. From letter of intent to closing table, every document earns its place.

Acquisitions and dispositions, commercial leasing, development and construction contracts, landlord and tenant matters, financing and refinancing. We act for buyers and sellers, landlords and tenants, lenders and borrowers — never for both sides of the same table, and never at your expense.

Cross-border acquisitions run through our Chicago headquarters, with associated counsel in London and Singapore handling local-law steps under one instruction — the overseas filing, the tax opinion, the offshore holding structure. Real estate may be local; the paperwork strategy is not.

A downtown office skyline, the built environment our real estate practice works across

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The Real Estate & Property team

RA

R. Ashford

Senior Partner · Lead, Real Estate & Property
MB

Margaret Ballard

Partner · Commercial Leasing
TC

T. Crenshaw

Counsel · Transactions & Closings
JF

J. Fairbanks

Associate · Zoning & Land Use
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What the record says

They caught an easement in the title work the seller’s own counsel had missed — that one clause saved the deal and a fortune.
Developer client survey, 2025
Twelve units, one closing day, zero surprises. Exactly how property work should run.
Portfolio landlord, 2025

Recent work

Matters we're proud of

Acquisition

Downtown office tower acquired for a private investment group

Leasing

Master lease renewed for a 200,000-square-foot logistics tenant

Dispute

Boundary and easement action settled ahead of trial

Development

Zoning variance secured for a mixed-use riverfront project

Latest articles and knowledge

Article

Letters of intent: binding where you least expect it

Legal briefing

Commercial lease clauses that decide disputes years later

Article

Title insurance: what it covers and what it quietly excludes

Solid ground for your next property move

A confidential first conversation with the real estate team — buyer, seller, landlord, or tenant.

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