Zoë Gillies remembers what first drew her interest to real estate.

“I've always had an interest in real estate and would pop into open houses in my neighborhood for fun,” she says. 

She realized she’s drawn to homes and to what happens inside them. It was only later, after a business law class at Bentley University made her realize she liked law enough to build a career from it, after Suffolk Law School, and after meeting a partner at Dalton & Finegold who ran their residential practice in Boston, that everything clicked into place.

It turned out to be a natural fit.

Earning a business undergrad and cutting her teeth at law school helped her get a notion of where her career would end up. “I realized that I didn't want to spend every day in a courtroom arguing with opposing counsel, so I ruled that out. I knew I wanted to be in a transactional role and help people somehow."

After starting with Dalton & Finegold, she knew she’d made the right choice. 

"It's a happy type of law," she says. "A lot of other practice areas deal with conflict or problems that people are facing. My clients are people who are usually really excited—it's a huge milestone in their lives."

At Dalton & Finegold, Zoë represents buyers and sellers in the purchase and sale of homes across Greater Boston. The client mix runs wide: first-time buyers taking the plunge, investors building portfolios, homeowners trading up or scaling down. That creates a relationship that has to work the way any good professional relationship does: responsive, communicative, present when it matters.

"Responsiveness and attention to detail," Zoë says, describing what she wants people to understand about how she operates. "I'm extremely responsive, always available to my clients. And I really enjoy working with people."

That last part matters more than it might sound. Buying or selling a home—especially for the first time—is both the largest financial transaction most people ever undertake and one of the most emotionally loaded. The legal process is unfamiliar. The timeline creates pressure. Zoë's job is to move clients through all of it without letting them feel lost in it.

The most rewarding moment is the one at the end.

"Helping someone to successfully close on something they've dreamed about accomplishing—that's the coolest part."

She grew up in Cape Elizabeth, just outside Portland, Maine. Her parents own a marina, and the water has been a backdrop for her whole life. She gets back often—summers, holidays, and this August, her wedding in Boothbay Harbor. Maine isn't just home; it's also professional territory. Zoë holds her bar license in both Massachusetts and Maine, and as her practice grows, expanding what she can offer clients there is part of the plan.

For now, she lives in South Boston. She runs outside along the waterfront, tries new restaurants as fast as they open—Boston keeps making that easy—skis in the winter, and gets up to Maine whenever the calendar allows. 

The open houses aren't just a hobby anymore, but the interest that made them one still shapes how she shows up at work: genuinely curious about homes, genuinely invested in the people trying to make one their own.

Massachusetts requires an attorney to conduct residential real estate closings. That's the rule. What Zoë brings to that role—the availability, the care, the instinct for what clients actually need to hear—is the part that isn't required.