Attorney

Commercial Real Estate Attorney | Senior Associate to Partner-Level | Charleston, SC | $160,000 to $260,000 | Partnership Track

In real estate, the client rarely remembers who drafted the PSA. They remember who picked up on a Sunday when the survey came back wrong. This role is built to make you that lawyer, and to put you on the partnership track for it.

I’m Clark Pollins at Distinct Recruitment. I’m recruiting for an Am Law 200 firm that wants a commercial real estate attorney in its Charleston office.

The short version

• An Am Law 200 platform with a local practice. You get national resources, with deals rooted in Charleston and the Lowcountry.
• A billable target of 1,800 to 1,900 hours, so there’s time left in the week for business development.
• Hybrid working, agreed with your team from the start. You set the split.
• A partnership track where building your book is the route, and the firm backs you while you build it.

The deals on your desk

• Purchase and sale agreements, negotiated so your client knows exactly what they’re buying
• Real estate finance for lenders and borrowers, from first draft to closing set
• Development agreements for multifamily, industrial, hospitality, mixed-use and coastal projects, where approvals, permitting and timing have to hold up for years, not weeks
• Commercial leases for landlords and tenants across office, retail and industrial
• Due diligence across title, survey, zoning and land use
• The closing checklist, which is yours from start to finish

When a deal goes sideways

• The firm has real estate litigators down the hall.
• You hand the dispute over. The client relationship stays with you.
• Clients notice when their lawyer has a plan for the bad day. That’s often how one deal becomes ten.

The range, explained

• Nearer $160,000: an associate who already runs transactions alone and wants that independence to turn into clients of their own.
• Nearer $260,000: someone with established relationships or portable work, on a faster road to partner.
• The deals you run and the clients you bring decide where you land.

You’ll fit if

• You have around 3 years or more on complex commercial real estate transactions.
• You’re admitted in South Carolina, or eligible.
• You’d rather own a deal than have every page checked.
• You want to build a practice. A book helps, but appetite counts just as much.

Based in Charleston, Mount Pleasant, Summerville, Daniel Island or elsewhere in the Lowcountry? Or thinking about a move from Columbia, Greenville, Charlotte, Savannah or further afield? I’d like to hear from you.

Rather talk it through before you hit apply? Everything is completely confidential. If this role isn’t quite right, I’m working on other real estate opportunities across the Carolinas and can tell you about those too.