Brenna E. Moorhead

Brenna Moorhead is a senior attorney in the firm’s Real Estate Industry group, focusing on commercial real estate and related business matters. Ms. Moorhead has dedicated her practice at Goodwin to representing and advising clients as owners, investors and tenants on real estate leasing matters for office, medical office, biotech, industrial and retail space throughout the United States and primarily in California. She has drafted, reviewed, and negotiated leases and related legal documents for several hundred clients including but not limited to small and mid-cap companies, emerging biotech companies, tech startups, professional service firms, and national retailers. She liaises with corporate attorneys, construction attorneys, litigators, bankruptcy counsel, and other professionals to address the specific needs of clients.

Ms. Moorhead has prior experience counseling landowners and real estate developers on land use, transportation, natural resource, and other development and permitting matters. Her educational credentials include a juris doctor (JD) and a master’s degree in urban and regional planning (MAURP).

Ms. Moorhead’s recent experience includes representing:

• A private equity firm in connection with leasing of office headquarters in Silicon Valley.
• A publicly-traded biotechnology company in connection with leasing matters involving their headquarters in Boston.
• A vivarium facility and services provider in connection with real property located in northern and southern California.
• Various tenants in leasing matters involving negotiating rent relief or lease terminations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Startup tech clients providing leasing and property management services to consumers.
• Numerous Goodwin private equity and M&A clients by advising on all aspects of leasing matters and leading leasing teams in the due diligence phase of corporate buy-side transactions.

Ms. Moorhead serves on the Advisory Board of San Francisco Baykeeper, a nonprofit that advocates for the health of the San Francisco Bay by using science and clean water laws to improve habitats and communities, and the Advisory Board of North Beach Citizens, a nonprofit founded 15 years ago by Francis Ford Coppola that serves homeless and economically disadvantaged persons in the North Beach community of San Francisco. She also serves on a committee for the SF Market, a vibrant, thriving and sustainable food center—San Francisco’s source for fresh produce.

She is a member of industry groups ICSC and ULI, and San Francisco’s nonprofit public policy center SPUR.

• Co-author and Co-presenter, CEB, Real Property Ownership & Taxation, 2016-2017
• Author, Planning & Environmental Law, Clean Air by Contract, San Francisco, CA, 2013

Speaking Engagements

• Moderator, Real Property Section, California Bar Association (now the California Lawyers Association), 2017
• Teleconference Speaker, Lorman Education Services, EPA’s Rules on Compensatory Mitigation for Impact on Wetlands, Streams and Other Waters, San Francisco, CA, 2010
• Panelist, Berkeley Law School, The Great Debate: Transactional v. Litigation, Berkeley, CA, 2010 
• Moderator and Coordinator, APA California Northern, Closing the Climate Gap, San Francisco, CA, 2010

Honors and Leadership Programs

• Urban Land Institute, Leadership Program, 2015
• University of Southern California, Ross Program in Real Estate, 2010