Real Estate Associate - Philadelphia

plug-legal; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); On-site; USD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) with firm contribution

Generous paid time off

Life insurance

Professional development support

Job summary

plug-legal is seeking a partner-track associate for its transactional real estate group in Philadelphia. This mid-level position offers exposure to national-scale work and a collaborative culture aimed at nurturing future partners.

The ideal candidate has three to four years of relevant experience, strong negotiation skills, and the ability to work in a hybrid model. Benefits include comprehensive health insurance, a competitive compensation package, and professional development support.

Qualifications

• Three to four years in real estate-focused practice.
• Experience in purchase-and-sale, leasing, and financing.
• Very strong writing skills.

Responsibilities

• Drafting and negotiating purchase and sale agreements.
• Handling commercial leasing.
• Overseeing real estate financing.
• Conducting development and permitting work.

Skills

Real estate transactional experience

Negotiation skills

Attention to detail

Academic credentials

Collaborative work

Education

Strong academic credentials

Job description

A growing national firm is adding a partner-track associate to the transactional real estate group in its Philadelphia office — with a deal sheet that runs coast to coast, not just down the block.

This is a seat for a mid-level associate who already has real commercial real estate reps and wants national-scale work, real responsibility, and a clear line of sight to partnership inside a collaborative, client-first group. If you've been doing solid deal work at a regional shop and want a bigger platform without losing the team-first culture, this is worth a look.

The work

You’ll work on commercial real estate matters across the country, including:

• Drafting and negotiating purchase and sale agreements and the full set of ancillary documents
• Commercial leasing, landlord- and tenant-side
• Real estate financing
• Development and land-use / permitting work (a strong plus, not a requirement)

The point of difference here is reach: a three-to-four-year associate gets exposure to sophisticated, multi-jurisdiction deals that most associates at this level don’t see until much later.

Who this is for

You likely bring:

• Three to four years in real estate–focused practice, with genuine purchase-and-sale, leasing, and financing experience
• Sharp writing and the kind of attention to detail that survives a closing checklist
• Very strong academic credentials
• A collaborative instinct and an interest in building, not just billing — this is a partner-track role and the firm hires accordingly

The platform

A growing, full-service national firm with a deliberately collaborative culture — the sort of place that pairs the work and resources of a large platform with a group small enough that you’re a contributor, not a cog. The trajectory is real: this is an investment in someone they expect to make partner, not a body to fill a billing gap.

How you’ll work

Hybrid by design — attorneys work from the office three days a week. It’s a genuine attempt to balance in-person collaboration and mentorship against the flexibility that makes a practice sustainable over the long haul, rather than a policy that pays lip service to either.

Why Philadelphia

Philadelphia is one of the strongest mid‑Atlantic legal markets, with a deep commercial real estate sector and a cost of living that compares favorably to New York, DC, and Boston — without giving up the deal flow or the platform. For a real estate associate building a career and a life at the same time, that combination is hard to beat.

Compensation and benefits

Market‑competitive compensation calibrated to the Philadelphia market for a real estate associate at this level — a class‑year‑based salary, an annual bonus tied to performance and hours, and origination credit as you begin to build your own client relationships.

The package includes:

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) with firm contribution and profit sharing
• Generous paid time off and paid parental leave
• Life insurance and short‑ and long‑term disability coverage
• Health savings and flexible spending accounts
• Employee assistance and wellbeing programs
• Professional development support, including bar dues and CLE