Celebrating Over 75 Years of Serving Nevada’s Legal, Business, Government, and Civic Communities

Real Estate & Land Use

Practice Areas

Tier 1, Band 1, and Best Lawyers in Real Estate Law

McDonald Carano has been involved in shaping Nevada’s real estate industry for decades. We have guided clients through nuanced real estate contracts and complex disputes, we have worked with all types of real estate, and we have handled every major issue in land use law. We have also assisted real estate clients through many market cycles and have helped them navigate challenges and seize opportunities. Our firm’s longevity and practical experience in the real estate industry distinguish us from other firms in Nevada.

We have been involved in all areas of real estate law and serve public, private, and public-private partnership clients in every sector of the real estate industry. Our clients include owners, developers, managers, investors, lenders, borrowers, builders, insurers, REITS, brokers, agents, landlords, tenants, buyers, sellers, and homeowners associations. Our comprehensive real estate experience encompasses hospitality, gaming, restaurant, entertainment, professional sports venues, warehousing, data centers, industrial, manufacturing, healthcare, business centers, shopping centers, high-end residential, multi-family housing, affordable housing, mixed-use developments, large-scale development projects, and transportation.

Commercial Real Estate Attorneys

We advise on all areas of commercial real estate: sales and acquisitions, leasing and development, borrowing and lending, complex litigation and appeals, and bankruptcy and reorganization. Whether our firm is called upon to negotiate a real estate contract or to advise on the ownership, operation, leasing or financing of commercial real estate, we prove time and again that we know how to leverage and protect our client’s position at every turn. McDonald Carano is actively involved in the Northern Nevada and Southern Nevada chapters of NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association. Two of our attorneys, Eric Duhon and Chris Molina, are graduates of NAIOP’s Developing Leaders Institute.

Our lawyers negotiate and close hundreds of millions of dollars of purchase, sale and leasing transactions for developed and undeveloped real estate. We represent landlords and tenants in lease agreements and disputes, including the enforcement of rights and remedies following defaults. We are also experienced in all areas of common-interest communities, including condominiums and planned unit developments.

Real Estate Finance Lawyers

McDonald Carano also represents real estate project lenders and borrowers in secured financing transactions. Our team negotiates and prepares commercial loan documents, provides legal opinions to lenders, and counsels clients regarding loan foreclosures and workouts, including receivership actions and actions involving loan guarantors. We have also served as local counsel for out-of-state lenders in connection with complex structured finance transactions for casino, energy and master-planned community projects.

Top-Rated Real Estate Law Firm

Our Real Estate Practice is rated in the highest Tier 1 category in Best Law Firms.  As Best Law Firms® explains, “achieving a tiered ranking signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise. Firms that receive the Tier 1 designation reflect the highest level of respect a firm can earn among other leading lawyers and clients from the same communities and practice areas.” Our Real Estate Practice is also ranked in the highest Band 1 category in Chambers USA and clients have shared the following comments with Chambers researchers.

  • “They have the superior breadth of knowledge, experience, and expertise and that allows them to provide excellent legal representation.” “The team is extremely knowledgeable and efficient. They have quick response rates and great patience with clients who may not understand the nuance of Nevada Law.” “Their knowledge and connections in the state were exceedingly helpful. We have found the firm to be well staffed with knowledgeable, highly experienced attorneys who can handle anything.” (Chambers 2025)
  • “McDonald Carano’s attorneys are knowledgeable and competent. I would trust their senior partners with any type of matter; their newer lawyers are well trained as well.” “The firm provides excellent service and knowledge of Nevada.”  (Chambers 2024)
  • “A good firm with a strong group of lawyers.” (Chambers, 2023)
  • “Our experience work with McDonald Carano has been excellent.” (Chambers, 2022)
  • “I’m very impressed with the firm and the quality of the work. Everyone we have worked with has been great; I highly recommend them and wouldn’t hesitate to use them again.” (Chambers, 2021)
  • “The firm offers strength in depth and has a very broad scope of expertise.” (Chambers, 2020)

Our real estate practice includes:

  • Acquisitions and dispositions
  • Bankruptcy and reorganization
  • Condominium, homeowners association and co-op advice
  • Design and construction matters
  • Development projects
  • Dispute resolution, litigation and appellate advocacy
  • Entity formation, joint ventures and partnerships
  • Government affairs and lobbying
  • Insurance and title issues
  • Labor and employment advice
  • Leasing transactions and landlord or tenant matters
  • Lending and financing agreements
  • Listing agreements, disclosures and commission disputes
  • Property management
  • Tax counsel
  • Zoning, land use and environmental issues

Practice Area News

86 Lawyer of the Year Awards in 16 Years

The Best Lawyers in America, launched in 1983, is the oldest peer-review publication in the legal profession. The annual publication recognizes only one “Lawyer of the Year” who receives the…

McDonald Carano Receives 24 “Tier 1” Practice Group Awards in Best Law Firms 2026

Tier 1 Practice Groups McDonald Carano proudly announces that 24 areas of expertise in our Reno and Las Vegas offices received the highest Tier 1 ranking in the 2026 edition…

25 Reno Office Lawyers Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America 2026

McDonald Carano proudly announces that 21 of our Reno office lawyers have been selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America and four…

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