Manuel Fishman

Manuel Fishman is a Shareholder in the San Francisco office of Buchalter; where he serves as the Chair of the firm’s Northern California real estate practice group.

Mr. Fishman focuses his practice on representing real estate developers and owners in the acquisition, sale, and financing of commercial properties. In addition, he has an active leasing practice representing owners of several major office buildings in San Francisco, as well as tenants in lease and sublease transactions. His expertise includes letters of intent, tenant improvement work agreements, security deposits/letters of credit, signage rights, expansion and contraction rights, permitted transfers, operating expense audits, and lender and master landlord recognition agreements. Mr. Fishman also has extensive experience in the area of ground leasing and retail leasing and is recognized as a leading attorney in the area of landline and wireless communications and Internet-based services in commercial properties and rooftop installations.

In addition, Mr. Fishman acts as outside general counsel to start-ups that seek to leverage some part of commercial real estate into a tech application, and helps guide these companies in their efficient use of legal time and expertise in various subject matters.

Mr. Fishman also represents clients in equity structuring for, and the acquisition of, value add properties, including the formation of single purpose entities and joint ventures, and acquisition financing. Mr. Fishman has negotiated numerous construction management, project development and property management agreements relative to ground up development projects, as well as all types of easements and other adjoining owner agreements.

Most recently, Mr. Fishman has been recognized as a 2025 Best Lawyer in America in Real Estate Law, an honor he has received since 2007, and was recognized as a 2014 Top Rated Lawyer by American Lawyer Media in conjunction with Martindale Hubbell. He has also been recognized as a Northern California Super Lawyer since 2012 and as one of Bay Area Magazine’s Top Lawyers in the Bay Area. Additionally, he was the recipient of the 2019 Associate Member of the Year award from BOMA San Francisco.

Mr. Fishman earned his J.D., magna cum laude, at Santa Clara University School of Law in 1982 and his B.A. at the State University of New York at Purchase in 1975. Mr. Fishman is a frequent lecturer on office and shopping center leasing matters and writes frequently for industry newsletters.