Christopher M. Rider

For over 20 years, Chris Rider has devoted his law practice to helping clients navigate and close complex commercial real estate transactions. Before becoming a lawyer, Chris earned his Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license in New Jersey (license inactive). Accounting made good use of Chris’s meticulous attention to detail, but he wanted a profession in which he could also apply strategic thinking and create lasting value for his clients.

For many years, Chris honed his skills in the commercial real estate departments of large, respected law firms, including the Am Law 100 firm where he and Harry Clayton worked together as partners before establishing Rider Clayton LLC in 2022. Commercial real estate is tangible, dynamic, and deeply tied to how communities grow and evolve; it was a natural fit for Chris’s strengths.

Chris derives great satisfaction from helping clients turn complex deals into tangible projects that shape skylines, revitalize neighborhoods, and create opportunities. He enjoys helping owners, investors, tenants, and lenders navigate high-stakes transactions—not only efficiently solving problems as they arise, but also anticipating and preventing them from arising in the first place. Commercial real estate transactions have many moving parts, and things can get complicated quickly. Chris sees it as his role to manage that complexity so his clients don’t have to.

Chris’s clients appreciate his unique combination of deep legal knowledge and his practical, business-minded approach, and his personal investment in their success. They rely on his sound judgment and strategic thinking to protect their interests in both the transaction at hand and in the long term. Many of Chris’s clients have worked with him over the course of decades because of his talent for simplifying the complex and his calm, clear-headed approach to moving deals forward.

Chris deeply values the relationships he has built with his clients, and his role in making their visions a reality. As he puts it: "My job is to make sure that when my clients get to the closing, there are no surprises — and that they got there as efficiently as possible."