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Bella S. Helford concentrates her practice in the areas of commercial real estate transactions, general corporate representation, and contract law, with an emphasis on the leasing, management, acquisition, and disposition of commercial properties. Ms. Helford represents commercial landlords throughout Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia in the leasing of office, retail, warehouse, and flex properties. She also represents commercial tenants in sophisticated lease transactions, including the new construction of Class A office space, as well as buyers and sellers in stock and asset sales of closely held corporations. Overall, Ms. Helford has more than 17 years of experience representing clients ranging from multinational publicly traded companies to start-up businesses.

Ms. Helford joined Bregman, Berbert, Schwartz & Gilday, LLC in 2012. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Helford was an associate with McDermott, Will & Emery LLP. She also previously maintained a solo practice concentrating in the areas of commercial and residential real estate, general business representation, and mergers and acquisitions.

Ms. Helford received her undergraduate degree from New York University College of Arts and Science where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Alumni Scholars Group. She received the Founder’s Day Award for Academic Achievement and the Russian Language Studies Award. She earned her law degree from New York University School of Law, where she received the Dean’s Scholarship.

  • Representative Experience
    • Representation of commercial property owners throughout Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia in the leasing of office, retail, warehouse, and flex properties.
    • Representation of tenants in sophisticated lease transactions involving the new construction of Class-A office space.
    • Drafted and negotiated agreements in connection with a pre-construction lease transaction for multiple floors of office space in a trophy building in downtown Bethesda on behalf of the tenant.
    • Represented a publicly-traded real estate investment trust in leasing multiple retail centers.
    • Prepared novation agreements and managed SAM registrations for a client that acquired a commercial building portfolio that included multiple federal and state governmental entities as tenants.
    • Representation of buyers and sellers in stock and asset sales of closely-held corporations.
  • Professional Affiliations
    • American Bar Association, 2002 – present
    • Maryland Bar State Association, 2013 – present
    • New York State Bar Association, 2002 – present
    • New Jersey State Bar Association, 2006 – present