2025 Ones to Watch - Rising Stars: Elizabeth Dahill, Seyfarth Shaw LLP

“Elizabeth’s versatility as a real estate lawyer is reflected both in type of transactions - acquisitions, dispositions, refinancing, and investment opportunities – and in skill set - due diligence, transactional documents, and execution of closing. Lenders and borrowers routinely entrust Elizabeth in all types of financing transactions, including permanent loans, bridge loans, construction loans and mezzanine loans. She works with lawyers across our firm on deals covering the spectrum of asset classes and financing-types. Her proficiency made it obvious to elect her as a partner.” - Cynthia Mitchell, Partner and co-chair, Real Estate practice, Seyfarth Shaw LLP.

What recent professional milestone or project are you most proud of, and why? In the past year, I’ve worked on affordable and transitional housing projects in NYC. These matters involve complex layers of public-private coordination and financing, development and regulatory navigation — all in service of addressing one of the most pressing issues facing the city today. What makes this work especially meaningful is its tangible impact. I enjoy all of the complex work that I do for firm clients, but helping clients execute a vision to bring affordable and transitional housing to our community, is incredibly rewarding. It’s exciting to walk by a project I played a part in.

What is your top advice for someone just starting out in your field? It is important to meet deadlines, but it is even more important that your work product be thoughtfully drafted and free of grammatical errors. Your supervising attorney will likely remember an error, longer than they will remember a slight delay, so make sure to print your documents, review your blacklines and get your draft as correct as possible, even when your timing is tight.