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WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

MOVIN’ OUT - If you thought the real estate market was insane right now, get a load of the real estate attorney lateral market. As Law.com’s Dan Roe reports, real estate lawyers are busier than ever, as low interest rates fuel demand for commercial and residential transactions. That, of course, means competition for those lawyers among firms is also red hot. Looking at the Am Law 200 alone, last week, Greenspoon Marder real estate partner Loretta Thompson joined Withers in Los Angeles, while Loeb & Loeb picked up Jones Day real estate partner Peter Bergan in Chicago. Earlier this month, Nixon Peabody snagged New York-based affordable housing and real estate partner Laura Sugarman from Holland & Knight. And in Florida, Spencer Fane partner Shawn Whitney, another affordable housing specialist, opened a Fort Lauderdale, Florida, office for the Kansas City-based law firm, relocating from Springfield, Missouri. Midsize firms and boutiques have also gotten in on the action, with some smaller firms poaching Big Law attorneys to help grow their real estate practices. Florida-based real estate lawyer Robert Stern of Trenam Law summed it all up beautifully: “Our real estate and lending lawyers are jammed out and maxed out. It’s all hands on deck.”