From Associate to GC: How to Build Trust Inside a Growing Real Estate Firm

Why Trust Is the Real Promotion

Titles can be handed out. Trust can’t. Moving from associate to General Counsel (GC) takes more than legal skill. It requires trust from founders, executives, lenders, and deal teams. That kind of trust doesn’t come from billing hours. It comes from how you work during chaos, how you solve problems, and how you think like an owner.

In a fast-growing real estate firm, things break. There are no playbooks. The best legal minds are the ones who can move fast without breaking things further—and make other people feel safe while doing it.

Michael Fralin knows this path firsthand. He started as the first hire at SomeraRoad Inc., which went from zero to over $2 billion in transactions in five years. As GC, he helped shape deals, handle risk, and create the systems that helped the company scale. He earned that trust by showing up, solving problems, and always thinking one step ahead.

Think Like a Business Partner, Not Just a Lawyer

Most associates focus on being technically right. But in a growing firm, leaders need lawyers who understand the business.

If you're in the room during a deal review, don't just explain what’s wrong—offer options. Show the business risk, not just the legal one. Understand the numbers. Ask questions like:

• What’s the return target?
  
  

• What’s the lender most worried about?
  
  

• What will kill this deal fastest?
  
  

Fralin recalls helping restructure a broken bond deal by suggesting a public-private solution. Not a legal trick—a business tool.

That kind of thinking makes people trust you with bigger decisions.

Handle Stress Without Spreading It

Growth is messy. Real estate deals fall apart all the time. People are tense. The best lawyers stay calm. They absorb stress instead of passing it on.

You don't need to be the loudest voice in the room. You need to be the one others look to when everything goes sideways.

• Keep your email tone steady
  
  

• Don’t blame others during deal delays
  
  

• Say, “Here’s how we fix it” instead of “This is a problem”
  
  

This builds quiet trust. It’s the kind that gets you looped into confidential calls and investor meetings later.

Own the Middle of the Deal

Associates usually sit on the sidelines. GCs run the middle.

The middle is where the details live. Where one clause in a loan agreement can block a $50M closing. Where due diligence turns up a title issue that needs a three-way fix. Where one missing certificate can delay funding.

Start asking to manage the middle:

• Be the point person for outside counsel
  
  

• Coordinate with lenders and internal teams
  
  

• Build the closing checklist yourself
  
  

Once people see you can keep the middle tight, they’ll trust you with the front end—and the strategy.

Stay Until It’s Done

In a growing firm, people notice who stays late when things get real. They remember who cleaned up the redlines at midnight. They remember who FedExed the closing docs when everyone else thought it was handled.

Fralin once mentioned a closing where nothing worked—signatures were delayed, funding stalled, title had last-minute changes. He stayed through the night, worked with every party, and didn’t ask for credit. The deal closed the next morning. That’s how you get invited into the next big one.

Trust is built in those hours. Not in reviews. Not in promotions. In trenches.

Make the GC’s Job Easier Before It’s Yours

If your firm already has a GC, study them. Don’t just work for them. Think like them.

• Anticipate what they’ll need before they ask
  
  

• Offer to review the stuff they hate (like insurance docs)
  
  

• Send them flagged drafts with action items, not just PDFs
  
  

• Ask what’s keeping them up at night
  
  

Do this consistently, and one day someone will say: “You’re basically already doing the job.”

Build Systems, Not Just Solutions

Early-stage firms don’t have legal systems. They just survive deal by deal. That’s your opportunity.

Create templates. Build checklists. Track which lenders require which covenants. Log internal deadlines.

Small systems do two big things:

1. Make deals go faster
   
   

2. Make you look like a leader
   
   

If you make other people’s jobs easier, you become the person they want in charge.

Don’t Be Afraid to Say “I Don’t Know”

Trying to fake knowledge kills trust. Saying “I don’t know, but I’ll find out” builds it. People don’t expect you to know everything. They expect you to care enough to get it right.

When you do bring an answer back, make sure it’s clear, useful, and tied to a decision. Don’t write memos for the sake of it. Write what helps the team move forward.

Learn to Translate, Not Just Explain

Your value increases when you can speak “legal” and “business” at the same time. When you can explain a covenant in 10 words. When you can walk a developer through a tax issue without making their eyes glaze over.

GCs aren’t just legal experts. They’re translators. They help the rest of the company move faster without stepping into traps.

Work on simplifying. Shorten your emails. Use fewer legal terms. Focus on what someone needs to do, not what the case law says.

Final Checklist to Build Trust

Here’s what builds trust from associate to GC:

• Think like an owner, not just a lawyer
  
  

• Be calm when others panic
  
  

• Solve problems, don’t just spot them
  
  

• Control the middle of the deal
  
  

• Stay late when it counts
  
  

• Learn the business side
  
  

• Set up systems, not just one-time fixes
  
  

• Say what you don’t know
  
  

• Translate clearly for non-lawyers
  
  

GCs don’t just appear. They grow into the role by becoming the most trusted person in the room. That trust isn’t given—it’s built. And once you have it, everything changes.

Just ask Michael Fralin.