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Sanford Dow at Dow Golub Remels & Gilbreath: One of Only Six Texas Lawyers Triple Board Certified in Civil Trial, Commercial Real Estate, and Residential Real Estate Law

Origin and Background

Dow Golub Remels & Gilbreath, PLLC is located at 2700 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite 1750, Houston, TX 77056, confirmed through the firm’s own site and Super Lawyers. The firm was founded in October 2001 by four attorneys, including Sanford L. Dow, who had each previously practiced at larger, prominent Houston firms. Dow is a third-generation Houston attorney: his grandfather Harry Dow founded Dow, Cogburn & Friedman, P.C., a 45-lawyer Houston firm tracing to 1924, where Sanford Dow himself once practiced alongside his father, Bernard, and two uncles, before later co-founding his current firm. According to his Super Lawyers biography, Dow is Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in three separate areas — Civil Trial Law, Commercial Real Estate Law, and Residential Real Estate Law — a combination the same biography states only six Texas lawyers hold. He is also a licensed Texas real estate salesman.

Practice Concentration

Dow heads the firm’s Real Estate section, which represents developers, real estate companies, private operating companies, lenders, contractors, subcontractors, title insurance companies, and institutional and entrepreneurial investors across the purchase and sale of developed and undeveloped property, condominiums, single-family and town home developments, and commercial and retail projects. His individual practice combines commercial litigation with real estate, business, and entertainment transactions — a dual transactional-and-litigation profile his firm bio describes as helping transactional clients “avoid common business traps which often result in unwanted litigation.” See this Houston Real Estate & Property directory for how this triple-certified boutique compares to other Harris County firms.

Notable Work / Track Record

Dow’s firm bio states that, as co-counsel, he obtained the Top Jury Verdict in Texas in Real Estate Law for 2012, as identified by Texas Lawyer’s VerdictSearch Top Texas Verdicts survey. In 2013, firm colleague Debra L. Gilbreath represented the seller in what the firm’s site describes as the “Biggest Houston Real Estate Deal of 2013.” Dow has also been retained by other attorneys as a testifying expert witness on real estate issues including mortgage lending, mechanic’s and materialmen’s liens, title issues, real estate broker duties, professional negligence, and condominium disputes, according to his firm biography. These are firm-reported case and transaction summaries; a specific matter’s outcome depends on its own facts.

Client Voice

A LinkedIn recommendation describes Dow as “an excellent attorney with extreme attention to detail and a great track record,” adding that “he gives sound advice and we have the utmost confidence in his abilities.” Awesome Attorneys did not identify additional named consumer reviews for Dow beyond this recommendation and the firm’s Martindale-Hubbell Client Champion recognition, which the platform states is based on the quantity and quality of an attorney’s client reviews rather than a specific quoted testimonial.

Beyond the Courtroom

Awesome Attorneys did not identify specific individual pro bono case detail or nonprofit board service documented for Dow. At the firm level, Dow Golub Remels & Gilbreath’s site describes a school-adoption partnership with Houston ISD announced by colleagues at the firm, though that specific initiative was not directly attributed to Dow.

Recognition for This Houston Real Estate Firm

The Best Lawyers in America named Dow its 2024 “Lawyer of the Year” for real estate litigation in Houston — a peer-review-based honor the firm’s site states was awarded to only one lawyer in the category that year. Texas Super Lawyers named Dow to its “Top 100” Houston lawyers across all practice areas for 2024, and he has been selected to the Super Lawyers list continuously from 2003 through 2025. Chambers and Partners included the firm in its 2025 USA Spotlight Guide of best small and mid-size firms, specifically citing its real estate and labor and employment practices, and Martindale-Hubbell has recognized the firm among “Texas’ Top Ranked Law Firms.” Dow’s triple Board Certification — Civil Trial Law, Commercial Real Estate Law, and Residential Real Estate Law, all through the Texas Board of Legal Specialization — is the credential Awesome Attorneys treats as decisive for “specialist”-level language in this profile.

Texas Legal Backdrop

Dow’s stated litigation specialties — mechanic’s and materialmen’s liens, title disputes, and real estate broker liability — sit respectively under Texas Property Code Chapter 53 (mechanic’s liens), general Texas title-litigation doctrine (suits to quiet title and trespass-to-try-title actions), and the Texas Real Estate License Act’s broker-duty framework enforced through the Texas Real Estate Commission. Condominium disputes, another stated specialty, proceed under Property Code Chapter 82, the Texas Uniform Condominium Act. None of this is legal advice; a specific real estate transaction, lien, or litigation matter should be evaluated by a licensed Texas attorney based on the actual facts involved.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

Dow Golub Remels & Gilbreath’s clearest differentiator is Sanford Dow’s rare triple board certification — one of only six Texas lawyers combining Civil Trial Law with both Commercial and Residential Real Estate Law certification — paired with a 2024 “Lawyer of the Year” honor and three generations of Houston legal practice behind him. The honest trade-off is that Dow’s caseload spans both high-end litigation and transactional work, so prospective clients should confirm at the outset whether their specific matter — a straightforward transaction versus a contested lien or title dispute — is the kind of engagement Dow personally handles day to day versus a colleague at the firm. For a Houston client with a real estate matter that could turn contentious, or one that already has, Dow’s combined litigation-and-transactional certification is a reasonable basis for a shortlist.

Methodology and Sourcing

This profile was researched from Dow Golub Remels & Gilbreath’s official website (dowgolub.com), including Sanford Dow’s attorney biography and the firm’s About and Real Estate practice pages, Sanford Dow’s Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers profiles, and his LinkedIn profile.

Publisher Disclosure and Independence Notice

Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal directory and editorial publication. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed by Dow Golub Remels & Gilbreath, PLLC prior to publication. Awesome Attorneys may in the future offer sponsored placement products to attorneys and firms, including this one, but sponsorship has no bearing on the editorial content, inclusion, or findings of this profile.