Richard S Fries

Practice Areas

Richard Fries is a partner in the Real Estate, Energy, Land Use & Environmental Practice Group in Sheppard Mullin's New York office.

Richard focuses his practice on complex real estate financing and workouts transactions. He represents institutional lenders, investment banks and private equity firms in all aspects of real estate finance, with an emphasis on construction lending, syndicated loan transactions, distressed real estate workouts and remedies. He has been involved in the financing, foreclosure and restructuring of permanent, construction, acquisition, bridge and mezzanine loans secured by all types of real estate assets, including office, hospitality, retail, ground up condominium construction, multi-family, industrial and land development projects, healthcare complexes, mixed-use projects, shopping centers, as well as non-real estate assets such as multi-state franchise operations and automobile dealerships.

Richard is nationally recognized for his expertise in distressed commercial loan workouts and remedies. Richard has developed a unique market-leading practice at the cross-section of real estate finance and loan enforcement, using litigation tools to restructure real estate loans, projects and businesses with predictability and finality. His experience and reputation in loan workouts has been acknowledged by Chambers as “legendary.”

He also has extensive experience representing private equity investors, property owners and developers in real estate joint ventures, commercial real estate litigation, construction, hospitality and partnership disputes, asset disposition, loan portfolio sales and project development.

Richard also represents national lending institutions in the purchase and sale of performing and underperforming loan portfolios, real estate assets and participation interests in loans, and the implementation of national standard loan and workout programs and documentation for real estate, commercial and private banking loan products.

According to Chambers USA, “true master negotiator” Richard Fries is a “superstar” who is regarded as “one of the premier real estate litigators in the City” and is “extremely well respected for his collaborative approach and expertise in complex workout and restructuring matters.” Chambers describes that Richard “provides best-in-class service and is a true business partner” as well as highlights his “professionalism,” “responsiveness,” “great technical ability,” and “excellent” ” judgment.” Richard has been highly recognized by Chambers USA as one of the country’s leading real estate lawyers. He has been ranked by Chambers in “Band 1” in Real Estate Nationwide for 2013 (the year such rankings began)–2017, in “Band 2” Nationwide in 2018–2021, and in “Band 1” for Real Estate Finance in New York each year from 2009 through 2022. He has also been recognized as a Leading Lawyer in The Legal 500 for Real Estate, named one of the top ten lawyers in New York City in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 Metro Editions of Super Lawyers, and recognized by Best Lawyers as its Real Estate Litigation Lawyer of the Year in New York City in 2019. Richard also received this recognition in 2013. In 2014 and 2015, Who’s Who Legal acknowledged Richard as one of the 10 “Most Highly Regarded” real estate lawyers in all of North America.

In January 2018, Richard was awarded the New York State Bar Association Real Property Law Section’s Professionalism Award, its most significant honor, which recognizes lawyers who evidence the highest attributes of legal ability, achievement, civility and professionalism in the practice of law.