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Remote Founding Commercial Real Estate Partner

  • US, Remote
 

Founding Commercial Real Estate Partner

AI-Native Law Firm | Remote U.S. / San Francisco Hybrid
$250K–$300K Base + Significant Performance Compensation + Equity

A fast-growing, venture-backed AI-native law firm is seeking a Founding Commercial Real Estate Partner to build and lead its commercial real estate practice from the ground up.

This is a true founding opportunity for a senior transactional real estate attorney who wants more ownership than a traditional law firm can offer. The firm combines experienced senior lawyers with proprietary AI technology to execute transactions faster, operate on a fixed-fee model, and eliminate much of the inefficiency associated with traditional billable-hour practices.

The commercial real estate practice is already seeing significant client demand, with an established pipeline of active matters. No portable book of business is required.

What You’ll Do

  • Lead sophisticated commercial real estate transactions from initial structuring through closing
  • Handle acquisitions, dispositions, and joint ventures, with particular emphasis on multifamily and other institutional real estate assets
  • Independently draft and negotiate purchase and sale agreements, closing documents, and related transactional agreements
  • Oversee title, survey, zoning, environmental, and other property-level diligence
  • Advise clients on legal risk, deal structure, commercial tradeoffs, and closing strategy
  • Coordinate with financing, tax, environmental, corporate, and other specialists as needed
  • Work directly with proprietary AI tools to review, refine, and accelerate legal work product
  • Develop transaction playbooks, processes, quality standards, and operating procedures for the new practice
  • Partner with the firm’s technology and growth teams to improve how legal services are delivered
  • Help recruit and mentor additional real estate attorneys as the practice expands

Ideal Background

  • 7–18 years of sophisticated commercial real estate transactional experience
  • Significant experience leading acquisitions, dispositions, and/or joint ventures end-to-end
  • Training at an AmLaw 200 firm, ideally AmLaw 100, or comparable sophisticated in-house experience with a REIT, real estate investor, PE sponsor, owner/operator, or similar organization
  • Able to independently draft and negotiate PSAs, closing documents, and related agreements
  • Strong command of title, survey, zoning, environmental, and property-level diligence
  • J.D. from an accredited U.S. law school
  • Active bar admission in at least one U.S. jurisdiction

What Will Make Someone Stand Out

  • Experience representing institutional owners, operators, real estate investors, or private equity sponsors
  • Prior in-house experience with an owner/operator, REIT, investor, or sponsor
  • Multifamily transaction experience
  • Experience with portfolio transactions or complex joint ventures
  • California bar admission
  • Experience using legal AI tools or genuine enthusiasm for applying AI to transactional legal work

The Right Personality

This environment will not suit everyone. The firm is looking for someone who is:

  • Highly autonomous and comfortable making decisions
  • Energized by building something from scratch
  • Comfortable operating without established playbooks or extensive infrastructure
  • Pragmatic and solutions-oriented
  • Intensely committed to their craft
  • Humble, collaborative, and low ego
  • Excited about changing the traditional law firm model
  • Comfortable with the pace and ambiguity of an early-stage startup

This is not a lifestyle-law-firm opportunity. The first several years will require significant commitment and intensity. In return, the person joining will have meaningful influence over how the practice, team, technology, and operating model are built.

Compensation

  • $250K–$300K base salary
  • Target total compensation approximately $350K–$450K+
  • 30% of deal revenue on matters personally closed
  • 10% of client revenue from clients personally originated
  • Potential for up to 40% participation when both apply
  • Meaningful founding equity

A portable book is not required. The firm has a dedicated growth function responsible for generating new client opportunities.

Location

Candidates may be based anywhere in the United States.

  • San Francisco-area candidates should expect approximately 3–4 days per week in office
  • Candidates elsewhere in the U.S. should be comfortable traveling to San Francisco approximately one week per month for team collaboration

Why Consider It

This is an opportunity to build an entire commercial real estate practice rather than simply join an existing one. The firm already has meaningful client demand, dedicated business-development resources, proprietary legal technology, venture backing, and an experienced founding team.

For the right attorney, it offers the combination of BigLaw-level transactional work, startup ownership, uncapped performance upside, and meaningful equity.