Robert R Harris

Robert Harris is a land use and real estate attorney at Lerch, Early & Brewer in Bethesda, Maryland who helps landowners strategically improve the use and value of their real estate. His practice includes zoning, land use, real estate and municipal affairs. He represents commercial and residential landowners before planning commissions, courts, governmental agencies and elected officials in connection with obtaining development approvals and in the protection of land use rights in Montgomery County, Maryland and surrounding jurisdictions. His clients include Adventist HealthCare, Avalon Bay, EYA, The JBG Companies, Pulte Homes, and Simon Premium Outlets.

Bob’s representation of major corporations, builders, retailers, developers and landowners includes advising and representing clients in land development and real estate, including master planning, zoning, subdivision, site plans, special exceptions and other matters. This includes representation in legislative matters at both local and state levels, and participation in court proceedings. He is devoted to being well informed on trends, policies and practices that influence development, and his clients describe him as being "engaged, knowledgeable and insightful." (Chambers USA). They praise Bob for his strategic and creative solutions.

His work includes experience in a number of issues, including smart growth, traffic management, adequate public facilities controls, public infrastructure, mixed-use planned development, environmental issues, urban design, affordable housing, real estate taxation and historic preservation. He has served on numerous boards, committees and task forces advising the government on matters ranging from infrastructure finance, redevelopment of aging shopping centers and master plans to urban renewal. He also chairs the Washington Sustainable Growth Alliance, a group he helped form, comprised of businesses and land use and environmental organizations working to address sustainable growth issues. He serves on the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments' “Region Forward” Task Force to guide future development of the region.

Bob received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Maryland and his Juris Doctor from The George Washington University School of Law. Prior to joining Lerch Early, he was the managing partner in the Montgomery County office of a national D.C. law firm. He is admitted to practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia.

Bob serves on the executive committee of the Urban Land Institute’s Washington District Council, and regularly serves on advisory panels organized by ULI to advise government organizations and private businesses on land use policies and practices. He is a life director of the Maryland Building Industry Association. Bob also is a life board member of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, and formerly served as its chairman.

He has been listed in Chambers USA for Real Estate: Land Use from 2010 to the present, and has appeared in Best Lawyers in America and the Maryland and Washington, DC editions of Super Lawyers every year since 2007. Best Lawyers named him Washington, DC’s “Land Use and Zoning Lawyer of the Year” in 2014. In addition, he has been a Washington Business Journal “Top Washington Lawyer” finalist.

When he’s not working, Bob, who was raised in Montgomery County, enjoys being outdoors. He is an avid skier, and has been to more than 40 resorts in five different countries. He also plays golf and bikes. After a workout, he takes pleasure in good food and wine; fortunately, his wife is a gourmet cook.