What Miller Starr Regalia does

Miller Starr Regalia is a California-based law firm founded in the early 1960s that specializes in real estate and land use law, operating from offices in Walnut Creek (headquarters), San Francisco, and Newport Beach. The firm is organized around three integrated practice groups — Litigation, Transactional, and Land Use — and serves developers, commercial and residential property owners and tenants, financial institutions, public agencies, and entrepreneurs on matters ranging from commercial leasing, acquisitions and dispositions, and real estate finance to eminent domain, CEQA compliance, and entitlement strategy. Its most distinctive asset is the proprietary treatise "Miller & Starr, California Real Estate 4th," a 12-volume, 45-chapter reference work continuously updated by firm attorneys for over 50 years and cited extensively in California appellate and federal courts, supplemented by the award-winning CEQA Developments blog and a monthly Newsalert periodical.

The firm is a private professional law corporation (Miller Starr Regalia, A Professional Law Corporation), owned and managed by its shareholders with no external investment or parent company. Ella Gower serves as Managing Shareholder; practice group leadership includes Brian Shaffer (Litigation), Matthew Henderson (Land Use), and Arthur F. Coon (Chair Emeritus of Land Use and Chair of Appellate Practice). Revenue is generated almost entirely through professional services billing on matters throughout California and, where applicable, across the United States and abroad; the treatise is published through Thomson Reuters Westlaw under a licensing arrangement, providing a secondary, smaller revenue stream. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, consistent with bespoke real estate and land use engagements.

Go-to-market is relationship-driven, relying on the firm's 60-year reputation, thought leadership through THE BOOK and the CEQA Developments blog, third-party attorney recognition (Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America), community involvement (notably the Kennedy-King Memorial College Scholarship Fund), and referrals from existing clients and professional networks. The firm has between 101 and 250 employees and continues to expand through targeted lateral hiring and shareholder promotions, particularly within its Land Use Department.

Name

Miller Starr Regalia

Legal name

Miller Starr Regalia, A Professional Law Corporation

Website

https://msrlegal.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1960

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Miller Starr Regalia is a California-based mid-sized law firm specializing in real estate and land use law, with three practice groups (Litigation, Transactional, Land Use) serving developers, property owners, financial institutions, and public agencies across California from offices in Walnut Creek, San Francisco, and Newport Beach.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Walnut Creek

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Legal Services - Litigation: Full-service commercial litigation for real estate disputes including trials, arbitrations, and appeals in state and federal courts throughout California.
2. Legal Services - Transactional: Real estate transactions including acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, development, finance, and corporate entity formations.
3. Legal Services - Land Use: Land use entitlement, CEQA compliance, and related environmental review services for development projects.
4. Legal Treatise Publication: The firm authors Miller & Starr, California Real Estate 4th, a 12-volume treatise published through Thomson Reuters Westlaw.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Miller Starr Regalia is a California-based professional law firm providing legal services in real estate, land use, and related litigation matters. The firm operates three integrated practice groups — Litigation, Transactional, and Land Use — and is also the author of the Miller & Starr, California Real Estate treatise, the most widely used real estate law reference in the state.

Product overview

Miller Starr Regalia is a mid-sized California real estate law firm offering three integrated service pillars: Litigation, Transactional, and Land Use practices. The firm's intellectual property flagship is "Miller & Starr, California Real Estate 4th," a 12-volume treatise spanning 45 chapters that serves as the most widely used and judicially recognized real estate law reference in California. The firm also produces the CEQA Developments blog, providing timely analysis of California Environmental Quality Act developments. The three practice areas work in tandem to provide integrated legal representation, with the Transactional Department frequently collaborating with Land Use and Litigation Departments to serve sophisticated real estate transactions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CEQA Developments: A blog by Miller Starr Regalia focused on California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) developments. Recognized in the Global Top 200 Law Firm Blogs list by Practice Source and House of Butter.

Products and services

• Real Estate Litigation Services Full-service commercial litigation for real estate disputes including trials in state and federal courts, appellate practice, and alternative dispute resolution such as arbitration across California.
• Real Estate Transactional Services Transactional legal services covering acquisitions, dispositions, commercial and residential development, leasing, real estate finance, common interest development, construction, management, title insurance, environmental law, and corporate transactions for clients throughout the United States and abroad.
• Land Use and Entitlement Services Land use entitlement, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) compliance, environmental review, land use due diligence, entitlement strategy, project coordination, and implementation for residential, commercial, and industrial development projects.

Quantifiable outcome

• THE BOOK cited well over a thousand times in reported appellate decisions
• +3 more outcomes

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP: Sheppard Mullin is a California-founded full-service firm with a sizeable real estate practice covering transactions, finance, land use, and litigation. It directly competes with MSR for large California enterprise real estate clients.
• Cox Castle & Nicholson LLP: Cox Castle & Nicholson is a California-based law firm singularly focused on real estate law, with similar practice areas across litigation, transactional, and land use. It is one of the closest functional peers to MSR's real estate specialty positioning.
• Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP: JMBM is a California-based business and real estate law firm with dedicated practices in real estate transactions, land use, hospitality, and commercial litigation. The firm overlaps heavily with MSR's enterprise real estate client base.
• Akerman LLP: Akerman is a national firm with one of the largest real estate practices in the U.S., including significant California presence. It overlaps with MSR on transactional real estate, land use, and real estate litigation matters for sophisticated clients.
• Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP: Allen Matkins is a California-based real estate and business law firm with deep practice in real estate transactions, land use, construction, and litigation. It directly competes with MSR for sophisticated California real estate mandates.

Broad incumbents

• DLA Piper: DLA Piper is a global law firm with significant real estate capability covering acquisitions, development, finance, and disputes. It competes broadly in the California enterprise real estate legal market.
• Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP: Orrick is a California-founded global law firm with deep real estate, energy, and infrastructure practices. It competes for sophisticated real estate mandates on a broader scale than MSR's boutique offering.
• Seyfarth Shaw LLP: Seyfarth Shaw is a large national law firm with a substantial real estate practice, including development, leasing, finance, and disputes. It serves enterprise clients in California that overlap with MSR's target market.
• Greenberg Traurig LLP: Greenberg Traurig is a large national firm operating broadly across practice areas, including a top-tier real estate practice that competes for sophisticated California real estate mandates. It is a broader incumbent rather than a specialty boutique.

Regional players

• Fennemore Craig PC: Fennemore Craig is a Western U.S.-based law firm with a strong real estate, land use, and natural resources practice primarily serving clients in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado. It is functionally comparable to MSR in specialty but operating in adjacent geographies.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights8 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/miller-starr-regalia

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Miller Starr Regalia