"It's an interesting time to be consulting because the real estate markets are changing so dramatically," Reiss tells GlobeSt.com. "They're changing as the world of real estate is changing, and we're all facing challenges. Real estate has gone from a growth product to a stress product domestically and globally, so how we deal with that as a firm is changing."

Reiss will work to better position and further develop DLA Piper's real estate capital and financial market practices worldwide. Her guidance and expertise will be available for the firm's lawyers and clients alike. DLA Piper currently has 3,700 lawyers in 66 offices spread across 28 countries throughout the US, United Kingdom, Europe, Middle East and Asia.

"They're already a global presence, and one of things that made this consulting assignment so attractive was that they have a global reach already," she says. "I've been working with Jay Epstein to make more activity occur in all of those places. They want to serve the real estate and financial practice in any way they can to embellish and enhance their global reach."

While DLA Piper is well-established domestically, Reiss says one focus of her work with the firm is to integrate its domestic and international practices. "There are a lot of issues in building a global real estate practice," Reiss says. "In working with DLA Piper, I think we've already had some traction on some of the strategies we've been approaching on how to grow around the world."