In House Counsel Jobs in Decatur, GA (NOW HIRING)

At Cortland, we operate with a forward-thinking approach that challenges conventional norms and actively seeks insights beyond traditional industry boundaries. As a recognized leader in the multifamily sector, our focus on performance, innovation, and disciplined execution continues to drive strong growth and market leadership. We are committed to building a best-in-class organization by empowering top talent with the resources, autonomy, and support needed to deliver results and advance their careers in a high-performance environment.
Role Overview
As the Counsel, Operations, you'll serve as the senior legal advisor for the company's residential operations, providing strategic counsel on resident matters, property management, compliance, litigation, and risk management. You'll partner closely with Operations leadership to protect the organization, support community performance, and ensure legal compliance across the residential portfolio.
Community Operations, Compliance & Risk Management

• Serve as the lead legal advisor for Operations and Community teams on issues impacting day-to-day property management activities.
• Provide practical legal guidance that supports operational objectives while mitigating risk.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local laws governing multifamily housing, including Fair Housing, landlord-tenant regulations, ADA requirements, privacy, and consumer protection laws.
• Monitor regulatory developments, and recommend operational changes to maintain compliance across the portfolio.
• Lead operational compliance reviews, investigations, audits, regulatory responses, and training initiatives.
• Partner with Risk Management and Operations leaders to identify, assess, and reduce legal and operational risks.

Resident, Property & Litigation Matters

• Advise community management and operations teams on legal matters affecting residential communities.
• Counsel stakeholders on resident disputes, lease enforcement, Fair Housing matters, reasonable accommodation requests, evictions, collections, resident safety concerns, and community policies.
• Direct litigation strategy and oversee outside counsel for claims, arbitration, administrative proceedings, and dispute resolution matters.
• Manage matters involving premises liability, personal injury, property damage, resident disputes, employment-related operational claims, and regulatory investigations.
• Analyze claims and litigation trends to identify risk mitigation opportunities and improve operational practices.

Business Partnership, Operations & Legal Support

• Serve as a trusted legal advisor to leaders across Operations, Human Resources, Finance, Asset Management, Risk Management, and Revenue Operations.
• Provide practical legal guidance that supports community operations while balancing business objectives and risk.
• Draft, review, and negotiate contracts and agreements supporting property operations, vendor relationships, resident services, and other operational initiatives.
• Partner with business leaders to evaluate legal risks and develop solutions that support strategic and operational goals.
• Translate complex legal and regulatory requirements into clear, actionable guidance for operational teams.
• Manage outside counsel relationships, litigation budgets, and legal resources related to community operations.
• Develop scalable legal processes, policies, and compliance frameworks that promote consistency and operational excellence across the portfolio.
• Build strong partnerships throughout the organization to foster proactive risk management and compliance.
• Lead a team of 2-3 direct reports with thoughtful leadership focused on departmental and individual professional growth.

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school and active membership in good standing with the Georgia Bar, or eligibility to obtain Georgia in-house counsel authorization upon hire.
• 7+ years of legal experience supporting multifamily housing, property management, residential real estate, or related operations.
• 2+ years of in-house Counsel experience preferred
• Expertise in landlord-tenant law, Fair Housing, ADA accommodations, lease enforcement, evictions, collections, resident disputes, and premises liability.
• Experience managing litigation, regulatory matters, claims, investigations, and dispute resolution.
• In-house counsel experience within a multifamily owner/operator, property management company, REIT, or residential real estate organization preferred.
• Experience supporting multi-state portfolios and navigating varying regulatory requirements.
• Experience supporting real estate transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, financings, development projects, and contract negotiations.
• Proven ability to advise executive leadership, manage outside counsel, and deliver practical, business-oriented legal solutions that balance risk management with operational objectives.
• Ability to travel as needed to provide legal trainings.

About Cortland
Founded in 2005, Cortland is an international, vertically integrated multifamily real estate investment, development, and management firm with a resident-centric approach to living experiences. Recognized as one of the top 10 multifamily owners and operators in the US, Cortland combines in-house design, construction, and operations to deliver value and innovation across its portfolio.
Join us as we reimagine apartment living and drive outsized returns through purpose, performance, and people.
Cortland is an equal opportunity employer, and we're proud to support and celebrate diversity in the workplace. We are committed to equal consideration for all qualified applicants regardless of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. If you have a disability and need an accommodation or assistance with the application process and/or using our website, please email Careers@cortland.com
Cortland is a drug-free workplace.
Cortland participates in e-verify to verify the employment status of all persons hired to work in the United States.
California Applicant Privacy Notice
We collect personal information from all job applicants, including identifiers (e.g., name, contact details), professional or employment information (e.g., résumé, work history, qualifications), and education information. This information is used for recruiting, evaluating your candidacy, conducting interviews, and managing the application process.
California residents may request access to or deletion of their personal information by contacting us at careers@cortland.com
GDPR Statement
When you apply to a job on this site, the personal data contained in your application will be collected by Cortland ("Controller"), which is located at 3424 Peachtree RD NE Suite 300 Atlanta, GA and can be contacted by emailing careers@cortland.com because Controller wishes to evaluate your candidacy for employment at Controller. Your personal data was either obtained from publicly available sources (e.g. LinkedIn) or provided to Controller by someone who referred you for potential employment. Controller's data protection officer is Greg Shultz, who can be contacted at Greg.Shultz@cortland.com. Your personal data will be processed for the purposes of managing Controller's recruitment related activities, which include setting up and conducting interviews and tests for applicants, evaluating and assessing the results thereto, and as is otherwise needed in the recruitment and hiring processes. Such processing is legally permissible under Art. 6(1)(f) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation) as necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the Controller, which are the solicitation, evaluation, and selection of applicants for employment.
Your personal data has been shared with Greenhouse Software, Inc., a cloud services provider located in the United States of America and engaged by Controller to help manage its recruitment and hiring process on Controller's behalf. Accordingly, if you are located outside of the United States, your personal data has been transferred to the United States. Because the European Union Commission has determined that United States data privacy laws do not ensure an adequate level of protection for personal data collected from EU data subjects, the transfer was subject to appropriate additional safeguards under [either the standard contractual clauses or the Privacy Shield]. You can obtain a copy of the standard contractual clauses by contacting us at careers@cortland.com
Your personal data will be retained by Controller as long as Controller determines it is necessary to evaluate your application for employment. Under the GDPR, you have the right to request access to your personal data, to request that your personal data be rectified or erased, and to request that processing of your personal data be restricted. You also have to right to data portability. In addition, you may lodge a complaint with an EU supervisory authority.