T
homas A. Kabel, a shareholder and attorney at Butzel, will be inducted into the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL) 2025 Class at the ACREL Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., September 18‑21. He is the sole Michigan‑based lawyer honored in the 2025 cohort.
Kabel sits on Butzel’s Board of Directors and previously chaired the firm’s Corporate/Real‑Estate Practice Department. His practice centers on commercial real estate and related finance, covering acquisition, disposition, leasing, financing, and development across a broad spectrum of projects.
He represents developers, automotive and manufacturing firms, and higher‑education institutions, handling all facets of their real‑estate needs. Kabel also advises commercial lenders on conventional financing and has served as bank counsel for numerous industrial revenue and tax‑exempt financings.
Certified by the SBA to close 504 loan transactions, Kabel authored “Equitable Subrogation: Why the Refinance Lender’s Security Interest May Not Be as Secure as It Thinks” in the Michigan Real Property Review. He frequently speaks at seminars and contributes to continuing legal education programs.
Kabel has led the State Bar of Michigan’s Real Property Law Section and is a member of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys and the ABA’s Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section.
His accolades include Best Lawyers in America® (Real Estate Law 2016‑2026, Banking & Finance Law 2026), Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s “Leaders in the Law” 2024, Oakland County Executive’s Elite 40 Under 40 2014, and Chambers USA’s America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (Senior Statesperson Real Estate 2015, 2018‑2025). He has also been named Michigan Super Lawyers Rising Star in Real Estate 2012, and a Super Lawyer in Real Estate 2013‑2025. DBusiness Top Lawyers recognized him in Land Use and Zoning Law, Real Estate Law (2011‑2012, 2014, 2016‑2018, 2020‑2023) and Banking & Financial Service Law (2016, 2017, 2020, 2021).
Kabel earned his J.D., cum laude, from Wayne State University Law School in 1999, where he served as Senior Articles Editor of the Wayne Law Review. He holds a B.S. from Grand Valley State University (1995).
Butzel, founded in Detroit in 1854, is a leading Michigan and U.S. law firm with 171 years of service. Its offices span Ann Arbor, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Troy, Southwest Michigan, and Washington, D.C., and it maintains global alliance partners. The firm is an active member of Lex Mundi, a network of 160 independent law firms. Visit www.butzel.com or follow Butzel on X: https://x.com/butzel_long.
