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Robert T. Buday, '91, Global Co-Chair of the Real Estate Practice at Latham & Watkins LLP in Chicago, spoke to students at IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law at a luncheon on April 12, 2018.

During the luncheon, sponsored by the Office of Development, Buday (left) shared with students some significant points in his career, which includes extensive experience in a range of complex real estate transactions.

But he also told students that he has an “unlikely story,” and no background that would suggest he would someday be recognized as a leading lawyer, hailed by The Legal 500 US as “masterful in joint venture analysis and negotiations.”

Born and raised in Marion, Indiana, Buday says that he was raised by a single mother who struggled financially raising five children, but was very focused on education. After graduating with a degree in business from Indiana University, Buday chose McKinney for its proximity to opportunity. “I was from Marion, so Indianapolis was the big city,” he told students.

After graduating from IU McKinney Law, Buday joined the Indianapolis firm of Johnson Smith, where he had one particularly memorable experience as a litigator, as a volunteer prosecutor in a case involving stolen lawnmowers and a defendant with a very high-profile defense attorney. Despite a surprisingly successful end to that case, Buday chose to focus on real estate transactions instead.

Buday practiced law in Indianapolis until he grew “restless” and moved to Chicago looking for new challenges and opportunities. For the past 18 years, Buday has focused on real estate private equity, real estate development, infrastructure investment and restructuring matters. His clients consist of publicly traded and privately held, domestic and foreign real estate operating companies, developers, REITs, pension funds and institutional investors. He routinely represents clients in the acquisition and disposition of real estate assets, joint ventures and operating companies, whether structured as asset purchases or entity-level transfers.

A member of the law school’s Board of Visitors, Buday said a McKinney law degree is “second to none,” and that he always felt his law school education had served him well. Buday told students that growing up without financial security provided much of the incentive for his drive to succeed as an attorney. Today, he looks for similar determination in people he hires. “I like grit,” he said.

At the same time, Buday said he had achieved his own success by being constructive with opposing counsel. “Building relationships and developing a good rapport with people will carry you through many challenges,” he said.

Big Law—an industry nickname for the nation’s largest law firms—demands hard work and sacrifice, but is a “great career path,” Buday said.

“Always be willing to bet on yourself,” Buday told students. “Look around. It doesn’t matter where you start, because life is likely to be a winding path,”