AALM: What inspired your career shift from commercial real estate development to law?
SN: My early career was in multifamily acquisition, land redevelopment, and syndications. I loved chasing deals and pooling investor capital, but I
quickly realized the entire industry moves on paper. I saw brilliant syndications and developments derailed by poorly drafted contracts or aggressive adversaries using legal ambiguities as weapons. I didn’t just want to build spaces; I wanted to protect the investments and the people inside them. Shifting to law was about becoming a shield and a sword for my clients where the stakes are highest.
AALM: How does your real estate background inform your lease dispute practice?
SN: I don’t just read leases; I know how they breathe operationally. I understand exactly how a poorly structured CAM clause chokes a tenant’s cash flow or how vague continuous operation clauses paralyze a landlord’s center. I spot leverage instantly without wasting time getting up to speed, allowing me to craft strategies rooted in real-world business, not just theory.
AALM: Why start your own practice right out of law school?
SN: As a first-generation immigrant and American, independence and entrepreneurial grit are in my DNA. Going solo allowed me to build an agile, client-first lease litigation
boutique that outmaneuvers slower firms, rather than becoming a cog in a massive billable-hour machine.
AALM: How has the firm evolved approaching its 10th anniversary?
SN: We grew from handling local landlord-tenant skirmishes to quarterbacking complex commercial lease litigations and transactions, adding robust mediation and arbitration services. Our foundation remains unchanged: unwavering grit and raw transparency.
AALM: How is recent industry upheaval impacting your clients?
SN: Remote work, interest rates, and retail evolution have upended commercial leasing, causing unprecedented defaults and intense disputes over force majeure or co-
tenancy clauses. The era of standard boilerplate leases is dead; survival now requires highly customized, bulletproof agreements.
AALM: Can you share a recent notable case?
SN: We resolved a pressure-cooker dispute involving over $37 million in disputed partnership shares across a dozen hotels, including Class A properties. Triggered by a founding partner’s passing, it was a minefield of generational divides and cultural dynamics that threatened to liquidate the portfolio. Leveraging my litigation, development, and mediation background, we engineered a sophisticated restructuring that cleanly “split the baby,” saved the operations, and gave both factions a profitable way forward.
AALM: How do your experiences as a first-generation American and lawyer shape your practice?
SN: Nothing was handed to me; every inch of ground was earned. That “tough mudder” work ethic means I treat my clients’ businesses like my own family’s livelihood. It also drives my pro bono work for Iranian freedom, where I have briefed congressional staffers and representatives to help the Iranian people exercise their right to self-determination.
AALM: What are your future goals for the practice?
SN: To be the ultimate one-stop shop for commercial landlords. We are scaling to handle commercial dispossessory cases from A-to-Z rapidly, while expanding our development consultancy to transform any tract of land, like
5 raw acres, into thousands of square feet of its highest and best use.
AALM: Anything else to add?
SN: Commercial real estate is risky, but your legal representation shouldn’t be a gamble. You don’t need a passive paper-pusher; you need someone who has been in the mud, understands your business from the dirt up, and knows how to win.
Nemat Law Firm LLC
1843 Peeler Rd, Unit D
Dunwoody GA 30338
770-285-8008
www.NematLawFirm.com
