2017 Women in Professional Services: Diana Brummer of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP

Name: Diana Brummer

Title: Partner

Company Name: Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP             

Years in real estate: 18 years

What real estate associations or organizations are you a member of? Association of Real Estate Women, Association of the Bar of the City of New York

How have you navigated obstacles to achieve success in your career? The recent recession was a major obstacle for all of us.  By consistently having a willingness to step outside of my comfort zone and put in the time and effort to learn new skills, I have developed an unusually broad legal skill set among real estate attorneys that allowed me to navigate the ever-changing needs of clients during the recession and thereafter.  

How do you play your strengths to your advantage in your career? One of my strengths is maintaining composure during heated negotiations and stressful situations. By avoiding getting emotional or angry, I’m able to focus on the substance of the issues at hand.  As a result, my clients are more comfortable and through our positive working relationship with the “other side” of the table, we are able to come to resolutions that are beneficial to my clients.

What trends are you seeing so far this year? So far in 2017, there has been a bit less deal activity. This is, in part, a result of the strong performance of equity markets and reallocations by institutional investors away from real estate towards equity investments, as well as somewhat decreased interest from foreign investors reflecting the strained foreign relationships during these early days of the Trump administration. However, there seems to be a resurgence of interest in debt funds and a strong mezzanine debt market.

What do you do for fun? As a mom of two boys, I started following basketball in a “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” move.  We’re watching a lot of NBA playoff games!