Contributors

HOUSTON (October 23, 2026) – Womble Bond Dickinson announced today that Robert J. Bello has joined the firm’s Houston office as a partner in its Real Estate practice. He will also work from the firm’s San Diego office. With nearly two decades of legal experience, Bello guides owners, investors, landlords, and tenants through the full life cycle of commercial real estate transactions, from acquisition and financing through development, leasing, and disposition. His practice also extends to renewable energy, oil and gas, and data center transactions.

On the leasing side, Bello represents both landlords and tenants across mixed-use, office, industrial, retail, manufacturing, and multi-family properties. He also counsels owners and investors on the acquisition and disposition of those same asset classes, guiding deals from initial underwriting through closing. In addition, he assists clients with mergers and acquisitions and select corporate matters.

“Our investment in Houston is driven by the sectors in which our clients are growing and what they need from us,” said Karthika Perumal, Houston Office Managing Partner. “Real estate is a significant part of that equation. Rob Bello brings a broad transactional practice and a distinctive business perspective from his experience as general counsel of a global corporate real estate advisory company. His arrival expands what we can deliver in Houston and advances the firm’s continued investment in its national real estate practice.”

Much of Bello’s work lives in the documents that carry a deal. He has particular experience drafting, negotiating, and analyzing leases, purchase and sale agreements, SNDAs, estoppel certificates, development agreements, easements, and CC&Rs. Holding an MBA alongside his law degree, he pairs legal precision with an operator’s view of the transaction. His years in-house inform how he advises clients on risk, structure, and the commercial goals behind each deal.

Bello is licensed to practice law in Texas, California, and Illinois.  He also advises clients in Chicagoland, throughout Illinois, and across the broader Midwest. He holds or has held real estate brokerage licenses in California, Georgia, Illinois, and Utah, a background that gives him a practical sense of how deals come together beyond the four corners of the contract.  During his time in-house, Bello was named “General Counsel of the Year” by the San Diego Business Journal and was a multiyear finalist for the same honor from the Orange County Business Journal.

“Houston is home, but I spent a large part of my career in Southern California and Illinois, and I have longstanding relationships and clients in those markets and across the country,” Bello said. “Those clients and relationships remain central to my practice. With 34 U.S. offices and more than 1,300 attorneys on both sides of the Atlantic, Womble gives me the platform to serve them from Houston and the capacity to grow throughout Texas and beyond. I look forward to showing clients what Womble can do for their next transaction.”

Bello earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Thomas Jefferson School of Law, where he was a member of the Thomas Jefferson Law Review, and concurrently earned his MBA at San Diego State University. Prior to earning his graduate degrees, he graduated with a B.A. from Northwestern University, where he played varsity baseball. He joins Womble from Porter Hedges.

Bello’s arrival continues a period of growth for the firm’s Houston office, which has added 12 attorneys in as many months, including partners Tyler Bridegan, Eric Munoz, Kat Smith, and David Tallman, and of counsels Amy Castell and Louis Rossitto.