Corporate Legal Counsel

StevenDouglas is working with a privately held real estate owner and developer with a diversified South Florida portfolio to identify a Corporate Counsel for its in-house legal department. This is a newly created position on a small, established legal team, reporting to the company's in-house counsel. The role is centered on commercial leasing, which accounts for approximately 80% of the work, with the balance spanning commercial contracts, regulatory compliance, and management of outside counsel.

Responsibilities

• Draft, review, and negotiate landlord-side leases across retail, office, shopping center, industrial, and flex space, along with amendments, guaranties, SNDAs, estoppel certificates, and work letters.
• Review title commitments, surveys, easements, restrictive covenants, and zoning and land use requirements, and advise on associated risk.
• Draft and negotiate vendor, service, consulting, and license agreements supporting real estate operations.
• Manage outside counsel on eviction and premises liability matters, including review of pleadings and discovery and assessment of exposure.
• Advise the commercial property management team on tenant disputes, lease interpretation, and day-to-day operational issues.
• Develop contract playbooks and templates and administer contracts through the company's contract lifecycle management platform.

Qualifications

• J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school.
• Active membership in good standing with The Florida Bar.
• Five or more years of legal practice with substantial commercial real estate leasing experience.
• Experience drafting and negotiating vendor and service agreements in a real estate context.
• Strong drafting skills, sound business judgment, and the ability to translate legal risk into practical guidance for business stakeholders.
• Proficiency with contract lifecycle management platforms, DocuSign, Microsoft Office, AI-enabled legal research tools, and Westlaw or LexisNexis.