Associate Counsel Attorney Jobs in Santa Rosa, CA

Summary:

Our client, a highly active real estate investment and operating company, is seeking an Associate General Counsel to join its in-house legal team in Sonoma, California.

Reporting directly to the General Counsel, this attorney will play a critical role supporting acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, financing, joint ventures, asset management and corporate legal matters across a growing real estate portfolio. The position offers significant exposure to senior leadership and is ideal for a commercially minded real estate attorney who enjoys managing sophisticated transactions in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.

Key Responsibilities:

Acquisitions & Dispositions

• Lead legal aspects of acquisitions and dispositions, including drafting and negotiating purchase and sale agreements, letters of intent and closing documentation.
• Manage legal due diligence, including title, survey, zoning, environmental, lease and entity reviews.
• Coordinate transactions with lenders, title companies, brokers, outside counsel and internal stakeholders through closing.

Leasing

• Draft and negotiate commercial leases, amendments, assignments, subleases and related agreements.
• Advise internal leasing and property management teams on lease interpretation, defaults, renewals, exclusivity, co-tenancy and operating issues.
• Support leasing matters involving single-tenant retail and franchised restaurant operators.

Financing & Corporate Matters

• Support mortgage financings, refinancings and portfolio-level debt transactions.
• Assist with joint ventures, partnership agreements, entity formation and corporate governance.
• Advise on legal risk, compliance, insurance and operational matters affecting the portfolio.
• Manage outside counsel across transactional and litigation matters.
• Help develop legal processes, templates and best practices to support the continued growth of the business.

Qualifications:

• J.D. from an accredited law school with active bar membership in good standing.
• Approximately 6–10 years of commercial real estate legal experience.
• Strong experience handling acquisitions, dispositions, leasing and financing transactions.
• Demonstrated expertise negotiating purchase and sale agreements, commercial leases, loan documents and conducting title and survey review.
• Experience with joint ventures, entity structuring and sophisticated real estate investments.
• Ability to manage multiple complex transactions simultaneously while maintaining exceptional attention to detail.
• Outstanding drafting, negotiation and communication skills.
• Commercially minded with the ability to balance legal risk against business objectives.

Preferred Experience:

• In-house experience with a real estate private equity firm, REIT, developer or institutional owner/operator.
• Experience with net lease investments, retail real estate and/or franchised restaurant portfolios.
• Familiarity with fund structures, capital markets transactions and joint venture arrangements.
• Experience managing outside counsel and coordinating across multiple legal disciplines.

Why Join?

This is an outstanding opportunity to join a growing, entrepreneurial real estate organization where legal is viewed as a true business partner. You'll work directly alongside senior executives, lead sophisticated transactions from inception through closing, and have the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on the continued growth of the platform.