General Counsel

Role overview

Hybridge Capital Management, the affiliated private equity platform of Beverly Hills-based real estate investment bank Max Benjamin Partners, is hiring its first General Counsel in a joint appointment across both entities. The firm has participated in more than $4 billion of debt and equity across 500+ transactions and manages over $180 million in assets across resort and hospitality development, value-add multifamily, and distressed and special-situation real estate. The General Counsel will serve as the senior legal officer for both firms, reporting directly to the Managing Partner, and will be the sole in-house lawyer at a principal-led firm with no existing legal department.

Key responsibilities

• Own all litigation, arbitration, mediation, and pre-litigation disputes across the firms, their investment vehicles, and portfolio assets, including partnership/joint-venture disputes, construction claims, lender/loan-document disputes, and commercial contract matters.
• Set litigation strategy, assess exposure, drive matters to resolution, and select, engage, and manage outside counsel while holding budgets accountable.
• Draft and negotiate purchase and sale agreements, joint-venture and operating agreements, preferred-equity documents, loan documents, guaranties, intercreditor agreements, ground leases, and hotel management/franchise agreements.
• Run legal due diligence on acquisitions and financings (title, survey, entitlement, environmental review) and maintain subscription documents, side letters, and investor-facing materials for the firms' investment vehicles.
• Advise on hiring, compensation, classification, wage-and-hour compliance, and workplace policies under California and federal law; draft offer letters, employment agreements, and the employee handbook.
• Maintain the firms' entity structure and governance records; advise on securities and investment-adviser questions in capital raising and fund operations, including private-placement exemptions; manage the insurance program (D&O, E&O, general liability, property).

Qualifications

• J.D. from an accredited law school and active membership in good standing with the State Bar of California.
• Ten-plus years of practice, including meaningful time at a top law firm; in-house experience at a real estate, private equity, development, or hospitality company is a plus.
• Lead-attorney experience running complex commercial and real estate litigation through trial, arbitration, or settlement, described as the core requirement.
• Real transactional experience in commercial real estate: acquisitions, dispositions, financing, joint ventures, and entity structuring.
• Working knowledge of California employment law and a track record of managing outside counsel and controlling legal spend.
• Preferred: fund-formation and private-placement experience; familiarity with hospitality and multifamily operations; prior experience as the sole or first in-house lawyer at a growing firm.

Compensation & location

Base salary of $245,000-$350,000 depending on experience, plus a discretionary annual bonus targeting 25-40% of base tied to litigation outcomes, cost control, and firm performance, along with deal participation. The role is based in-office five days a week in Beverly Hills, with an immediate start date.