General Counsel | Equipment Finance (Costa Mesa)

General Counsel | Equipment Finance Altius Search Group is conducting a search on behalf of a confidential client for a General Counsel to serve as a key member of the company's leadership team. Our client is an established equipment finance and leasing organization seeking an experienced attorney to lead the legal function and provide strategic business guidance across the organization. This is a senior legal and business leadership opportunity for an attorney with strong experience in equipment finance, commercial transactions, secured lending, leasing, contract negotiation, compliance, and risk management. The General Counsel will work closely with executive leadership, sales, credit, operations, documentation, collections, funding, and other internal teams to support business growth while maintaining strong legal and risk discipline. The ideal candidate will be comfortable operating at the intersection of legal, commercial, and business strategy, with the ability to support revenue generation, manage risk, strengthen internal processes, and help drive accountability across the business.

Key Responsibilities

Serve as the company's senior legal advisor and provide practical, business-oriented counsel to executive leadership and internal stakeholders.

Lead and manage the company's legal function, including corporate, transactional, commercial, compliance, documentation, enforcement, and risk-related matters.

Partner closely with sales leadership and individual producers on transaction structure, customer issues, vendor relationships, documentation strategy, and deal execution.

Draft, review, negotiate, and advise on equipment finance agreements, lease documents, loan documents, vendor agreements, master lease agreements, purchase agreements, program agreements, guarantees, security agreements, and related commercial contracts.

Provide legal guidance on equipment leasing, secured transactions, UCC matters, titling, collateral issues, documentation requirements, funding conditions, and portfolio management.

Support business teams in structuring transactions that appropriately balance legal risk, credit considerations, customer needs, and business objectives.

Advise on lease enforcement, workouts, defaults, recoveries, bankruptcy-related matters, collections strategy, and dispute resolution.

Partner with credit, operations, documentation, funding, syndications, accounting, asset management, compliance, human resources, and executive leadership to support day-to-day business needs.

Identify legal, operational, regulatory, and business risks and provide clear recommendations that allow the company to move forward responsibly and efficiently.

Manage outside counsel relationships and ensure legal resources are used effectively and cost-efficiently.

Support corporate governance matters, entity management, ownership-related matters, policy development, and internal process improvement.

Assist with strategic initiatives, new business lines, vendor programs, sales growth initiatives, and organizational development.

Help develop scalable legal processes, documentation standards, policies, procedures, and best practices across the organization.

Promote a collaborative, service-oriented legal culture that supports business growth while maintaining strong risk discipline.

Qualifications

J.D. from an accredited law school.

Active license to practice law and in good standing with at least one U.S. jurisdiction.

10+ years of relevant legal experience, ideally including a combination of law firm and in‑house experience.

Strong background in equipment finance, commercial finance, leasing, secured transactions, banking, specialty finance, or commercial lending.

Meaningful experience drafting, reviewing, negotiating, and advising on commercial finance and equipment leasing documents.

Familiarity with UCC, collateral perfection, titling, guarantees, security interests, lease documentation, vendor programs, and secured lending structures.

Experience advising on workouts, collections, lease enforcement, recoveries, bankruptcy, litigation management, or portfolio-related issues.

Prior management experience, including legal team leadership, business team leadership, or cross‑functional leadership responsibility.

Ability to work closely with sales professionals and business leaders while maintaining appropriate legal and risk standards.

Excellent judgment, communication skills, negotiation ability, and executive presence.

Strong business acumen and the ability to provide practical guidance rather than purely academic legal analysis.

Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast‑paced, entrepreneurial, relationship‑driven environment.

High level of professionalism, discretion, accountability, and attention to detail.

What We're Looking For

A senior legal and business leader who can operate as both General Counsel and a strategic commercial partner. An attorney who understands equipment finance transactions and can support deal flow without slowing.