Placing People First!

Practice Area: Commercial Transactions, Real Estate Finance & Corporate Governance

Location: San Diego, CA (On-Site/Downtown)

Salary: $120,000 - $180,000

(This role includes a lucrative, performance-based incentive bonus, a premium health and welfare benefits package, and generous professional development allowances.)

About the Firm

This is an exceptional mandate from a venerated Southern California legal institution, a preeminent boutique firm with a half-century legacy of steering complex business and real property matters. The client is consistently recognized as a Tier 1 "Best Law Firm" in the San Diego metropolitan area for its expertise in Real Estate Law and Land Use & Zoning.

The firm's counsel is sought by a diverse, sophisticated clientele, including major real estate developers, capital market investors, institutional lenders, and national corporations. This platform offers an intimate, collegial atmosphere combined with the scope and caliber of matters typically reserved for the largest AmLaw institutions. The successful candidate will benefit from direct, comprehensive mentorship and the opportunity to architect high-stakes agreements alongside some of the region's most distinguished transactional partners.

Job Description:

The Associate will assume a central, substantive role in advising on the procurement and divestiture of diverse real property assets and shaping the corporate architecture of commercial enterprises. This practice is highly client-facing and requires an attorney who can seamlessly translate intricate legal structures into pragmatic, commercially-attuned counsel.

Key areas of responsibility include:

• Leading representation for clients in sophisticated acquisitions, dispositions, and development ventures involving a spectrum of commercial assets, including multi-family, office, industrial, retail, and undeveloped parcels.
• Architecting, scrutinizing, and shepherding sophisticated bilateral agreements, including complex purchase and sale contracts, specialized construction agreements, and all forms of premises occupancy agreements (commercial leasing for both Lessor and Lessee).
• Counseling both borrowers and institutional lenders in secured debt placements, including real estate-secured term loans, construction financing, permanent financing, and asset-based lines of credit.
• Advising on jurisdictional entity architecture—including corporations, partnerships, and LLCs—encompassing formation, structuring, and ongoing organizational prophylactic counseling.
• Conducting comprehensive legal due diligence, involving forensic title review, zoning and land use analysis, and environmental assessments, to mitigate exposure prior to closing.
• Coordinating closely with the firm’s dispute resolution and regulatory teams to integrate considerations of tax planning, land entitlement, and risk management into all transactional documentation.

Qualifications:

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree conferred by an ABA-accredited Law School.
• Active Member in good standing of the California State Bar.
• A substantive tenure of two (2) to seven (7) years in transactional law, with a demonstrably strong focus on real estate, finance, and/or general corporate matters.
• Exceptional ability in drafting complex legal instruments, and proven negotiation and contract review mastery.
• Meticulous attention to detail and the demonstrated capacity to concurrently manage a high-volume, diverse transactional docket.

Preferred Skills:

• Advanced credentials, such as an L.L.M. in Taxation or Real Property Law.
• Experience in matters of public-private partnership structuring or complex land entitlement processing.
• Specific expertise in representing either institutional lenders or large-scale commercial developers.
• Demonstrated interpersonal acumen and superior client communication skills to foster enduring relationships.

NOTICE

This a job advertisement on behalf of our client and does not reflect the full job description for the role. Any qualified candidates are encouraged to apply. You will need to provide law school transcripts, a writing sample or deal sheets, and a cover letter in order to be considered for this role. This posting does not constitute an offer of employment, and the listed compensation details may vary by state or experience and will be discussed thoroughly during interview phase.