SharePrinter-friendly versionSend by emailA TitleA TitleA Title A A A Joseph M. Fries TabsetOverviewBar & Court Admission Bar & Court Admissions District of Columbia Bar Education Harvard Law School, LL.B, (cum laude), 1961 Cornell University, AB, (high honors), 1958 Joseph M. FriesCounselWashington, DC T 202.857.6156 E joseph.fries@arentfox.com Download vCard Joe Fries has been practicing real estate, business, and tax law with the firm since 1961. His principal area of focus is in the planning, structuring, negotiation, and documentation of complex real estate transactions. Client Work Joe represents individuals and firms that are active in the real estate industry (such as developers, architects, lenders, and real estate investors), in addition to institutions that are not engaged in the real estate business, but that have real estate needs, such as the building or purchasing of a headquarters building or the leasing or subleasing of office space. Professional Activities Joe is a member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (for which he formerly served on the board of governors), the American Bar Association, as well as the District of Columbia Bar Association. He is a former adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center. Publications, Presentations and Recognitions Joe has been recognized as a leading real estate lawyer in Washington, DC by Chambers USA, International Who’s Who of Real Estate Lawyers, Legal 500 and Best Lawyers. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Bloomberg BNA Real Estate Law and Industry Report and served several years as a contributing editor of the Legal Times. He is a frequent lecturer and author of legal articles. Life Beyond the Law Joe has a passion for opera which extends beyond his having served for more than 20 years as pro bono general counsel of the Summer Opera Theater Company in Washington, DC. Since he has little talent and a voice that cannot carry a tune even in the shower, he has appeared as a “supernumerary” (or an “extra”) in three roles in Puccini’s Tosca in performances by the New York City Opera in 1981. In Washington, DC’s Summer Opera Theater Company, in 1997 and 2007, Joe disguised himself as a Swiss guard in a red, yellow, and blue tunic in Act I, as one of the group of firing squad soldiers that shoots the lead tenor in Act III, and as the Cardinal in Act I. Newsroom Date Type Title 1 / 7 / 2013 Press Release Arent Fox Opens New Washington, DC Office 10 / 9 / 2012 Press Release American Lawyer and Martindale-Hubbell Recognize 46 Arent Fox Lawyers Across 19 Practice Areas as "Top Rated Lawyers" 8 / 27 / 2012 Press Release Thirty-Four Arent Fox Attorneys Selected for Inclusion in Latest Edition of The Best Lawyers in America 6 / 26 / 2012 Press Release The Legal 500 Recognizes 37 Arent Fox Attorneys and 11 Legal Areas in 2012 10 / 6 / 2011 Press Release Numerous Arent Fox Attorneys Selected for Inclusion in Latest Editions of The Best Lawyers in America® and New York Super Lawyers 2012 Editions 6 / 14 / 2011 Press Release Arent Fox LLP Recognized in The Legal 500 11 / 2 / 2009 Alert Arent Fox Well-Represented in 2010 Edition of Washington DC's Best Lawyers 6 / 17 / 2009 Press Release Arent Fox LLP's Real Estate Practice in Washington, DC Earns Top Ranking in 2009 Chambers USA 2 / 12 / 2009 Press Release Arent Fox’s Joseph Fries Named “The 2009 Washington, DC Real Estate Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers 5 / 15 / 2008 Press Release Arent Fox LLP Announces Plans To Relocate Washington, DC, Office 10 / 13 / 2007 Event American College of Real Estate Lawyers: “Tenant Purchase Options in Lease Transactions” 6 / 15 / 2007 Press Release Arent Fox Adds Practice Groups and Lawyers to 2007 Chambers Rankings 4 / 24 / 2006 Press Release 12 Arent Fox Attorneys Named "Best Lawyers in America" 9 / 13 / 2005 Press Release Eleven Arent Fox Attorneys Named "Best Lawyers in America" 6 / 3 / 2005 Press Release Firm Receives High Ranking in Business Lawyer Survey
