Job Description
Fort Partners is seeking a highly skilled and commercially minded Legal Counsel (Real Estate) to lead and manage complex real estate transactions across our growing portfolio. The ideal candidate possesses a strong foundation in real estate law, with a particular focus on acquisitions, dispositions, due diligence, financing, and structuring. This individual will be expected to own high-value transactional workstreams from start to finish, provide sound legal and strategic guidance, and operate in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment. This individual will report directly to the General Counsel.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead Legal Execution of Real Estate Transactions: Manage and coordinate all legal aspects of acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, and financings, including drafting and negotiating purchase and sale agreements, loan documents, development agreements, and operating agreements.
- Due Diligence Oversight: Direct the due diligence process for complex asset and entity-level transactions, including title, survey, zoning, environmental, and other third-party diligence.
- Financing Strategy and Execution: Structure and negotiate debt and equity arrangements, including construction loans, bridge loans, mezzanine financings, and preferred equity.
- Interdisciplinary Coordination: Collaborate closely with internal teams (investment, development, asset management, tax, accounting) and external counsel to drive transactions forward efficiently and thoughtfully.
- Risk Management: Identify and address legal risks while balancing commercial objectives; provide clear, concise, and actionable advice to stakeholders.
- Legal Drafting and Review: Draft and review a wide variety of legal documents with exceptional attention to detail, ensuring accuracy, alignment with business goals, and minimization of exposure.
- Process and Documentation Leadership: Create and manage internal processes to support efficient legal and transactional execution; maintain organized, audit-ready deal files.
Qualifications:
- J.D. from a top-tier law school; member in good standing of at least one U.S. state bar.
- Minimum 4 years of real estate transactional experience, including at least 2 years at a nationally recognized law firm.
- Deep understanding of real estate transaction structures, financing instruments, and risk mitigation strategies.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills — must be able to distill complex concepts clearly and persuasively.
- Strong project management abilities; proven capacity to manage multiple active deals under tight timelines.
- High degree of ownership, discretion, and attention to detail; thrives in a lean and dynamic environment.
- Comfortable engaging with senior management, lenders, institutional partners, and counterparties.
Preferred Qualities:
- Prior in-house experience at a real estate investment firm, REIT, or developer a plus.
- Familiarity with land use and entitlement matters, particularly in urban markets, is helpful but not required.
- Humble, team-oriented, and solutions-driven mindset.