Eric Feuerstein and Jesse Sharf Discuss Growth of Real Estate Practice Group With Commercial Observer

In the Media  |  August 13, 2026

Commercial Observer

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Commercial Observer [PDF] highlighted the recent success of Gibson Dunn’s Real Estate Practice Group, which has grown by 30 percent over the past two years. Co-Chair Jesse Sharf noted that the team’s ability to handle complicated transactions sets it apart. “I think most of our competitors do not have the development function that we do: joint ventures, fund formation, M&A. We do a ton of M&A work,” he said.

Jesse said that he believes Gibson Dunn has the deepest well of legal expertise in commercial real estate. “There are plenty of law firms that are very good at representing users and developers of real estate,” he said. “There are fewer firms that are really good at representing lenders, and far fewer for equity investors.”

Co-Chair Eric Feuerstein said that the collaborative culture at Gibson Dunn gives the team a distinct advantage: “Real estate today is becoming far more interdisciplinary, involving investors playing up and down the capital stack at every level of investment. It draws on so many disciplines that it creates many more issues that have to be thought through. That requires lawyers to think outside the box, and to cover numerous issues they traditionally hadn’t worked on. This is a result of how our clients have grown as global asset managers, global banks, investment banks and developers.

“The sheer breadth of what clients are doing requires dealing with so many more issues and drawing upon our colleagues in special areas, and that is why our collaborative culture is essential.”