James M. Rishwain, Jr.

He is a leading advocate and actively engaged at the highest levels in helping the City of Los Angeles attract and carry out many of the largest sporting events in the world. He served as the chair of the Organizing Committee for the 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship Game and spearheaded the creation of ChampionLA, an initiative of the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission (LASEC), whose mission is to host and create community impact surrounding the world’s top sports and entertainment events in Los Angeles. Today, Jim serves as a member of LASEC’s board and executive committee and remains a committed supporter of ChampionLA.

Jim is also a leading advocate and actively engaged at the highest levels in helping abused and neglected children. He is board chair of the national chapter of Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). National CASA oversees nearly 300,000 foster children with nearly 100,000 volunteers through a network of approximately 1000 regional programs in 49 states.

He offers strategic counsel to global developers, investors, lenders and property owners who set the pace in their industries. Leveraging his deep knowledge of capital markets and real estate, he advises on investments and acquisitions, development, finance, joint ventures, leasing, exchanges, multifamily-tax-exempt-bond transactions, syndications and REITs. His real estate transaction work has earned him distinction as the California Lawyer of the Year and a Deal of the Year award.

Jim serves on numerous boards of directors of for profit, civic and charitable organizations and advises organizations on their strategic growth and development plans. He is active in many organizations in the City of Los Angeles, including those with respect to sports and entertainment, schools, parks and homeowners’ associations, and energy and infrastructure.

He is also an active proponent of diversity in the legal profession, holding a CEO Diversity Leadership Award from Diversity Best Practices and serving as a member of the advisory council on Women Business Collaborative.

Jim received his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and his J.D., cum laude, from Pepperdine University School of Law, where he graduated with high distinction and top 10 in his class.

• Represents companies owned and operated by high-net-worth individuals, including Ron Tutor (founder of Tutor Perini Corporation), Steve Wynn (founder of Wynn Resorts) and Adam Neumann (founder of WeWork), among others.
• Represents Aliaron Investments in the handling of a family office real estate portfolio, including the acquisition of a key strategic industrial real estate asset in Palmdale, CA, and a 65-year ground lease of industrial properties with a Hillwood investment entity as ground tenant in Fontana, CA.

• Profiled in Women Business Collaborative’s Women Leadership Magazine (2021)
• Nominated for Financial Times Most Innovative Law Firms North America (2020)
• Selected for Connect Media’s inaugural Top 50 in the Nation Lawyers in Real Estate Awards (2020)
• Los Angeles Business Journal Leaders in Law Award Nominee (2019)
• Recipient of the Burton Award for Law Firm Leadership (2018)
• Los Angeles Business Journal Nonprofit and Corporate Citizenship Award Nominee (2014, 2015, 2016)
• CASA of Los Angeles’ Robert Morrison Community Service Award (2016)
• Distinguished Alumni of the Year, Pepperdine University School of Law (2011)
• PLC Which Lawyer?, Real Estate—Los Angeles (2010–2012)
• CEO Diversity Leadership Award, Diversity Best Practices (2009)
• Managing Partner A-List, Los Angeles Daily Journal (2009)
• Who's Who in LA Law, Leadership and Real Estate, Los Angeles Business Journal (2007)
• California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year (CLAY) Award, Transactional Law (2004)
• Real Estate Deal of the Year, Los Angeles Daily Journal
• Earned distinctions as California Lawyer of the Year and as Deal of the Year award winner for real estate transactions.
• Listed in The Bond Buyer’s Municipal Marketplace directory
• Board Memberships and Civic Engagements
  • Fellow, American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL)
  • National Chair, National CASA/GAL Board of Trustees
  • Chair Emeritus, CASA of Los Angeles Board
  • Board Member and Executive Committee Member, Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission
  • Chair, Organizing Committee for 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship Game
  • Advisory Board Member, Women Business Collaborative
  • Advisory Board Member, UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate
  • Executive Committee Member, USC Gould Real Estate Law and Business Forum
• Publications
  • Featured in Yahoo Finance for being appointed as the Board of Trustees Chair by The National CASA/GAL Association, February 16, 2023.
  • Featured in the Daily Journal for being appointed the national chair of the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) network, December 30, 2022.
  • Featured in “Los Angeles Region to Host College Football Playoff National Championship in January 2023 at Sofi Stadium in Inglewood,” Los Angeles CFP National Championship Host Committee, January 11, 2022.
  • “Legalised Marijuana Resulting in Real Estate High,” International Law Office, January 5, 2018.
  • “A History of the Legal Industry in Los Angeles (Perspective),” Bloomberg Big Law Business, October 2016.
  • “10 Rules for Effective Law Firm Committees,” Bloomberg Big Law Business, August 2016.
  • “What’s Next for Pillsbury,” Bloomberg Big Law Business, May 2015.
  • “Leveraging 145 Years of Experience,” Forbes, March 2015.
  • Authored case study “Reservoir of trust – Build trust and confidence in your leadership” for Leadership in Law Firms: An Expert Guide, published by Ark Group in association with Managing Partner.
  • Interviewed for “Learning From Law Firm Leaders,” a book written by Susan Manch and Michelle Nash, ABA Book Publishing, October 2012.
• Associations
  • American Bar Association
  • State of California Bar Association
  • Los Angeles County Bar Association
• Speaking Engagements
  • “State of the LA Legal Market” – 16th Annual Los Angeles Legal Market Conference 2025 (June 4, 2025).
  • “Serving the Underserved through Public and Private Partnerships” – STEMconnector’s 2017 STEM Council Meeting (March 16, 2017).
  • “Stop Worrying and Love the Machines!” – USC Gould School of Law’s 2017 Real Estate Law and Business Forum (March 9, 2017).
  • 2011 Pepperdine University School of Law Commencement Ceremony (June 1, 2011).
• Blog Posts
  • “The Case for Mixed-Use Retail Centers and Their Continued Investment Potential,” Gravel2Gavel, October 18, 2022.
  • “Rent Caps, Carveouts and “Just Cause” Evictions: Breaking Down the Tenant Protection Act of 2019,” Gravel2Gavel, October 22, 2019.
  • “9 Dos and Dopes of Buying or Leasing Cannabis Real Estate,”Gravel2Gavel, December 13, 2018.
  • “With Liberty and Cannabis for All,” Gravel2Gavel, June 4, 2018.
  • “Ninth Circuit’s Blow to the Hemp Industry,” Gravel2Gavel, May 11, 2018.
  • “Dot Your I’s and Check Your Deeds Before Celebrating 4/20,”Gravel2Gavel, April 20, 2018.
  • “Legalized Marijuana Resulting in Real Estate High: Is the Golden State a Green Mine?,” Gravel2Gavel, March 23, 2018.
  • “Legalized Marijuana Resulting in Real Estate High: Industry Side-Effects,” Gravel2Gavel, December 19, 2017.
  • “Legalized Marijuana Resulting in Real Estate High: The Real Estate Bloom,” Gravel2Gavel, December 11, 2017.