June 26, 2025
Willkie partner Misty Sanford, Chair, Real Estate – West Coast, has been named “Real Estate Lawyer of the Year” at the 2025 California Legal Awards.
Presented by Law.com and The Recorder, the award recognizes Misty as one California’s top real estate transactional lawyers, highlighting her leadership and recent accomplishments in the field. She has excelled in building a broad-based practice, and regularly advises leading investors, developers, REITs and other market participants on the full lifecycle of development projects.
In a Q&A profile, Misty discussed her recent achievements, the evolving dynamics of the real estate practice, and the keys to developing a successful career.
“Be curious and push yourself to understand the law and business driving each provision of a contract that you come across,” Misty advised up-and-coming attorneys. “Real estate law requires a deep understanding of statutory and common law underlying the provisions of each contract in order to guide your clients to the business outcome that is both what they want and enforceable.”
Misty is widely recognized as a leading-edge practitioner. In addition to being named “Real Estate Lawyer of the Year,” she was recently honored by Daily Journal as one of the “Top Real Estate and Development Lawyers 2025.”
View the winners of the California Legal Awards 2025 here.
Presented by Law.com and The Recorder, the award recognizes Misty as one California’s top real estate transactional lawyers, highlighting her leadership and recent accomplishments in the field. She has excelled in building a broad-based practice, and regularly advises leading investors, developers, REITs and other market participants on the full lifecycle of development projects.
In a Q&A profile, Misty discussed her recent achievements, the evolving dynamics of the real estate practice, and the keys to developing a successful career.
“Be curious and push yourself to understand the law and business driving each provision of a contract that you come across,” Misty advised up-and-coming attorneys. “Real estate law requires a deep understanding of statutory and common law underlying the provisions of each contract in order to guide your clients to the business outcome that is both what they want and enforceable.”
Misty is widely recognized as a leading-edge practitioner. In addition to being named “Real Estate Lawyer of the Year,” she was recently honored by Daily Journal as one of the “Top Real Estate and Development Lawyers 2025.”
View the winners of the California Legal Awards 2025 here.