Lawyers are looking to cash in on the distressed asset space more and more as the real estate market continues to collapse. California-based Reed Law created a “Distressed Real Estate Practice Group” in order to deal with the rising demand for legal guidance when dealing with distressed assets. Managing partner Karyn Reed says the creation of the group is in response to the growing emotional nature of real estate litigation. “These types of complicated, and often contentious, real estate transactions have been a key aspect of our practice for years,” she said, but because these distressed asset “skills are needed by so many more people, for even more complicated matters, we have carved out a separate practice area within our firm.” The law firm is also expanding in other areas as a sign of the times, such as restructuring real estate deals, handling joint venture disputes, offering foreclosure avoidance strategies and settling. landlord-tenant issues. Write to Jacob Gaffney.