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Three CGS3 Partners Named Leaders of Influence in Law by the San Diego Business Journal
Tom Crosbie, Sean Southard and Joseph von Meier Lauded
SAN DIEGO (October 14, 2025) – Recognized for exceptional legal excellence and leadership, Crosbie Gliner Schiffman Southard & Swanson (CGS3) partners Tom Crosbie, Sean Southard and Joe von Meier have been honored by the San Diego Business Journal (SDBJ) as “2025 Leaders of Influence in Law.”
According to the publication, a weekly business newspaper, this annual recognition celebrates top legal talent throughout San Diego County. The honorees are all profiled in a special SDBJ supplement, published Oct. 20.
With decades of combined experience structuring and negotiating complex real estate and corporate transactions across every sector of the commercial market, each is well deserving of this latest accolade.
A CGS3 founding partner, Southard is widely recognized for executing high-stakes and complex commercial real estate transactions. He has successfully negotiated and closed major leasing deals encompassing millions of square feet across retail, industrial, and office sectors. His deep expertise spans acquisitions and dispositions, sale-leaseback and ground lease transactions, development and property management agreements, as well as a range of agreements governing the use and growth of real property. Before embarking on his legal career, he served as a Surface Warfare Officer in the United States Navy.
Crosbie, also a founding partner, has more than 30 years of experience in a broad variety of commercial real estate areas, including acquisitions and dispositions, financing, leasing and construction in connection with commercial, residential, industrial, retail and mixed-use projects for local, regional and national real estate developers and investors. He is currently playing a key role in multiple transformative projects in San Diego, including the extensive expansion of Rady Children’s Hospital and The Conrad Prebys Foundation’s acquisition of an approximately 500,000 square foot, 24-story office tower.
Since joining CGS3 in 2017 and rising to partner in 2019, von Meier has been instrumental in the firm’s rapid growth and recognition. Known for blending sharp business insight with strategic legal counsel, he specializes in the commercial real estate development process – representing leading developers, investors, and construction firms in high-profile, complex real estate transactions. His practice spans construction and development across sectors including student housing, multifamily, luxury residential, retail and mixed-use projects. An active industry voice he speaks regularly at industry conferences, recently Bisnow’s Multifamily Housing Summit, and holds ICSC and NAIOP memberships.
About Crosbie Gliner Schiffman Southard & Swanson LLP (CGS3)
CGS3 is a recognized leader among a new generation of commercial real estate law firms with practice areas covering the entire commercial real estate life cycle, including finance, acquisition/disposition, entity formation, tax, construction and development, land use, leasing, distressed asset workouts and dispute resolution. Earning a reputation as one of California’s leading commercial real estate law firms, CGS3 recruits some of the state’s top real estate attorneys from both large corporate firms and senior in-house positions. For more information, visit http://www.cgs3.com.