Two Ervin Cohen & Jessup Partners Named "Leading Real Estate Lawyers" By Lawdragon
Beverly Hills, CA – August 28, 2025 – Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP announced today that Partners Joan Velazquez and Albert Valencia have been recognized in the “2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Real Estate Lawyers” guide. The award honors top real estate attorneys around the world utilizing Lawdragon’s rigorous research and vetting process.
“This is the 2nd edition of this guide to advisors who specialize in a vast range of skills – development, finance, leasing, litigation, REIT structuring – on a range of property that can range from a tricky environmental site outside San Diego to a megadevelopment for an energy company in the Middle East to a troubled Manhattan skyscraper converting from commercial to residential,” states the publication. “From the development and careful handling of a sublime tropical paradise to the redevelopment of JFK International Airport, these are the lawyers you need to know.”
Joan Velazquez is recognized as a creative dealmaker and trusted advisor to real estate owners, developers, investors, lenders and asset managers. With deep experience across office, industrial, retail, mixed-use and hospitality, she has structured, documented, and closed more than a billion dollars in financing transactions, including joint ventures, partnerships, complex capital structures, and distressed asset workouts. Drawing on her tax background, Velazquez delivers innovative, business-minded solutions that mitigate risk while maximizing client returns, making her a go-to strategist for some of the industry’s most complex and high-value real estate deals.
Albert Valencia represents developers, operators, private equity investors, and lenders in complex real estate and business transactions. His practice includes acquisitions and dispositions, joint ventures and syndications, commercial leasing, financings, restructurings, and loan workouts across all major asset classes, including commercial, office, retail, multi-family, mixed-use, and industrial properties. Valencia is trusted by clients to navigate all stages of a deal, including structuring equity, negotiating CMBS debt, and incorporating mezzanine debt and preferred equity as required. In today’s challenging real estate landscape, he is particularly valued for delivering practical solutions to achieve outcomes that balance competing interests.
Recently, Valencia and Velazquez were featured in the 2026 edition of Best Lawyers in America.
Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP is a full-service firm that provides a broad range of business-related legal services including corporate law; litigation; intellectual property & technology law; real estate transactions and finance; construction & environmental law; tax planning and controversies; employment law; health care law; bankruptcy, receivership and reorganization; and estate planning. For more information, visit http://www.ecjlaw.com/