Clay Gantz' practice emphasizes real estate and financial transactions of all types. In particular, Mr. Gantz has 30 years of experience addressing issues which arise in connection with real estate ownership, development and investment across all product types, including construction and permanent financing; land use and entitlements; acquisitions, sales and exchanges; and leasing and ground leasing.

Building on his experience as a counsel to public agencies such as the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency (in connection with the Moscone Center/Yerba Buena Gardens project) and the City of Tustin (in connection with the conversion of the Marine Corps Air Station Tustin from military to civilian use), Mr. Gantz also regularly advises private developers in public-private partnerships. He was recently invited to join Lambda Alpha International, the international honorary society for the advancement of land economics, based on his "creativity in structuring public and private development transactions of depth and complexity."

Mr. Gantz represents buyers and sellers of distressed mortgage loans, loan portfolios, and REO as well as borrowers and lenders in mortgage loan restructurings and workouts. He has also formed and served as general counsel to commercial mortgage loan conduits and private equity funds.

Mr. Gantz also has considerable expertise in the acquisition, disposition and financings of wineries and vineyards. He is an award-winning amateur winemaker and has completed the certificate program in winemaking offered by the world-renowned Department of Viticulture and Enology at the University of California, Davis, Extension for individuals employed in the wine industry. Mr. Gantz has also developed his own vineyard, which is planted to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and is located in the Russian River Valley American Viticultural Area, Sonoma County, California. He is an elected director of the Russian River Valley Winegrowers, the organization of wine grape growers and wineries responsible for promoting the Russian River Valley as one of the worlds' premier locations for cool climate grapes such as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Mr. Gantz's clients have included Bank of America, Bohannon Development Company, Boston Private Bank, Central Pacific Bank, Citicorp and its affiliates, Hunter Properties, Jay Paul Company, KeyBank, National Association, the San Jose Earthquakes, Seagate Properties, Storm Land Company, Wells Fargo Bank and Wolff Urban Development, among others.

Mr. Gantz is a member of the firm's Real Estate & Land Use and Corporate & Finance Practice Groups. He was the managing partner of a San Francisco-based law firm that combined with Manatt in 2008.