A longtime partner and former real estate practice chair at Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young has made a move to Conshohocken-based Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld.

Jonathan Grosser joined Royer Cooper as a partner in its real estate group, and will primarily work out of the Conshohocken office. Grosser spent more than two decades at Stradley Ronon, having joined the firm in 1999.

Grosser said his move came about by “serendipity,” after he ran into a client at Starbucks who had started going to Royer Cooper for legal services. That client, Bob Rosenthal of Envision Land Use, mentioned Hope Hammer, leader of Royer Cooper’s real estate practice, whom Grosser said he has known for more than 20 years.

“That was enough to pique my interest,” Grosser said. As he started learning more about Royer Cooper, he said, it became clear that “for a small firm, its reach in the region and beyond was phenomenal.”

Executive partner Neil Cooper said as Royer Cooper’s contacts among family offices, private equity firms and other investors have multiplied, those clients have sought out services in real estate.

“We’ve seen more sophisticated transactions, more joint ventures, more developers interested in using our services on their deals,” Cooper said. “It was really fortuitous timing that Jonathan ran into that client. We really needed someone with his sophistication level.”

Grosser said he appreciates Royer Cooper’s approach to flexible billing and compensation models, which are amenable to alternative fee arrangements and retainer agreements. He said the practice is somewhat smaller than Stradley Ronon’s in terms of head count, but not in terms of work load.

“It was the people, the approach to the practice of law, the approach to client service, the level of sophistication of the practice. It really made me rethink what I was doing with my career,” he said.

Reached by phone Thursday, Stradley Ronon chairman Bill Sasso said he wishes Grosser well.

Real estate, land use and zoning have been busy areas for lateral movement in recent months.

Earlier this summer, Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel brought on partners Kellie McGowan and Nate Fox in its real estate and land use practice. That addition came after Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg brought on Hercules Grigos, who had been head of the zoning and land use practice at Obermayer Rebmann.

“The real estate practice is booming right now. Because the practice is booming and firms have different client bases, different opportunities present themselves,” Grosser said. “It allows people like us to be a little more in the driver’s seat in terms of our careers.”

If and when the economy softens, that movement will likely slow down, he added. But for now, “This is the opportunity when people are doing deals and looking for more legal support.”

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