Earl Porter is an associate in the Real Estate Finance & Investment Group. He focuses his practice on representing owners, developers, equity investors, lenders, and tenants in a wide range of commercial real estate transactions, including the acquisition, disposition, development, financing, and leasing of office buildings, industrial properties, retail properties, multifamily projects, and mixed-use assets across the United States. Earl applies the military decision-making concepts of planning, personnel management, and risk mitigation to every aspect of his work for clients.
Before joining Alston & Bird, Earl served over 10 years as a U.S. Army infantry officer and member of the Georgia Army National Guard. He began his military career after becoming a Distinguished Military Graduate as the nationally ranked number one cadet (out of more than 5,000 officers). Though Earl has since taken off the uniform, he has not stopped serving the veteran community. From September 11, 2021 until January 25, 2022, Earl hiked a southbound winter thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail to raise awareness and resources for veteran mental health as a project of nonprofit Toughest Kids Inc.
Earl received his J.D. from Emory University School of Law, where among other activities, he interned for three years at a commercial title insurance law firm. He received his B.S. from the University of North Georgia, graduating summa cum laude.