The following is an excerpt from Practice Perspectives: Vault's Guide to Legal Practice Areas.
Josh S. Winefsky advises clients on sophisticated real estate transactions in New York City and throughout the United States. Josh represents owners, funds, developers, real estate investment trusts (REITs), family offices, and other institutions. He routinely handles acquisitions and dispositions of both fee and equity interests; leases for commercial spaces as well as ground and net leases, including those in the context of sale-leaseback transactions; joint venture and other equity investments; debt financings; and in New York City, all aspects of condominium projects. Josh maintains an active pro bono practice.
Describe your practice area and what it entails.
We are a top-of-the-market, full-service real estate transactional group that represents a broad range of clients in both “dirt” transactions and debt and equity deals throughout the capital stack. We pride ourselves on our ability to deliver for our clients in virtually any type of real estate transaction involving any type of asset class.
What types of clients do you represent?
The real estate industry’s largest and most prolific players consistently seek our guidance on their most sophisticated and complicated matters and value our ability to understand the specific needs of their business. Our clientele includes real estate developers and owners, REITs, private equity funds, institutional and alternative lenders, family offices, hoteliers, and other debt and equity capital providers. We have handled billions of dollars of transactions for clients such as Alchemy Properties, Amherst Capital, BGO, BlackRock, Brookfield, Carlyle Group, CIM Group, Columbia University, Customers Bank, DLJ, Elysium Real Estate Partners, Extell Development Company, Mitsui Fudosan America, Mount Sinai Hospital, NYU Langone Medical Center, The Nederlander Organization, New Valley, Property Markets Group, The Related Companies, Rithm Capital Corp., VICI Properties, Vornado Realty Trust, The Walt Disney Company, and Zurich Financial Services.
What types of cases/deals do you work on?
I am a generalist, so I work on a broad range of deals, including acquisitions and dispositions of both fee and equity interests; joint venture and other equity investments; leases for commercial spaces as well as ground and net leases, including those in the context of sale-leaseback transactions; debt financings and related transactions, such as loan purchases and participations; and in New York City, all aspects of condominium projects.
How did you choose this practice area?
During law school, my wife (who was my girlfriend at the time) worked at a real estate PR firm. Her daily stories from the front lines of NYC real estate development prior to the Great Recession fascinated me and inspired me to seek work in the real estate group here (then, Kramer Levin) while I was a summer associate in 2008. I immediately knew that transactional real estate was for me.
What is a “typical” day like and/or what are some common tasks you perform?
In the transactional world, no two days are alike. I am usually working on anywhere between 5 and 10 deals on a given day, and each deal is unique—a different client, counterparty, and deal type and different HSF Kramer team members and key issues. The cadence of the day, however, often features common themes, such as discussions with clients to strategize on issue resolution, meetings with HSF Kramer colleagues to collaborate and allocate responsibilities, and negotiations with opposing counsel. The cycle of these tasks keeps deals moving forward. Separately, I strive to always make time to meet with existing and potential clients over lunch, dinner, or a game because, ultimately, our business is relationship-driven, and work is more enjoyable when you get to know and share experiences with the people you work with.
What training, classes, experience, or skills development would you recommend to someone who wishes to enter your practice area?
Seek to enhance communication skills by, for example, drafting contracts, writing emails and memos to clients, effectively explaining complex issues to clients and other nonlawyers, learning negotiation tactics.
What misconceptions exist about your practice area?
I am regularly surprised by the number of pro bono opportunities that arise through real estate transactional work. Pro bono work is part of the DNA of our firm, but it’s not limited to litigation-related matters. In our group, we handle a broad range of work on behalf of pro bono clients, from the negotiation of relatively small office and retail leases to our representation of the Universal Hip Hop Museum in a highly complex and sophisticated transaction that created the legal framework of its new space in the Bronx.
What are some typical tasks that a junior lawyer would perform in this practice area?
A junior lawyer will typically take the lead performing diligence, reviewing ancillary documents, keeping track of a checklist and deal status, and generally provide support to more-senior lawyers on a deal team. However, our group is entirely merit-based. If and when a lawyer is ready, regardless of year, substantive work is assigned to them. I have worked on complex transactions directly with first- and second-year associates who we believe can take on this level of work.
What kinds of experiences can summer associates gain in this practice area at your firm?
Our goal is to give summer associates a very real window to see what life is like as a junior associate. This involves both substantive assignments and shadowing opportunities. A summer associate is often asked to join a deal team and see the transaction through during their time with the firm. This includes being part of internal meetings, client calls, and negotiations with the counterparty. If and when appropriate substantive work becomes available, it is assigned to the summer associate.
How important is collaboration in effectively practicing real estate law?
It’s critical. The breadth and complexity of the deals we work is significant, and in our group, we are regularly consulting and gut checking with each other on market trends and negotiation strategies to be sure that we’re giving cutting-edge advice that meets the standards clients expect from us and we expect from ourselves.