Real Estate Paralegal / Legal Operations Specialist – Full-Time, Long-Term Role

REAL ESTATE PARALEGAL / LEGAL OPERATIONS SPECIALIST – FULL-TIME, LONG-TERM ROLE ABOUT US We are a growing real estate investment company with a busy and expanding in-house legal operation. Our legal team currently consists of five legal professionals, and we are looking for an experienced real estate paralegal to join us in a full-time, long-term role. We are a warm, collaborative team. We work together on real estate transactions, title issues, legal research, contracts and templates, litigation matters, and the day-to-day legal needs of a growing real estate company. We are looking for someone who wants to become part of the team rather than simply complete individual assignments. As the company grows, we are continuing to build out our legal department, improve our processes, develop our templates, and create better systems for managing legal matters. WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR We are looking for someone with a strong background in real estate law who is organized, intelligent, detail-oriented, and an excellent communicator. Real estate legal experience is very important for this position. We are happy to teach you how our company operates, but we do not want to teach someone the fundamentals of real estate transactions, title, or real estate law. The ideal person has worked as a real estate paralegal, at a real estate law firm, title company, real estate investment company, lender, or in another position involving substantial real estate legal work. We particularly need someone who has a strong legal and analytical mind. We want someone who enjoys digging into legal questions, researching statutes and case law, understanding how the law applies to a particular situation, and helping us think through complicated issues. High-level legal research is a significant part of what we are looking for. If we give you a legal question, we want you to be able to independently research it, find the relevant statutes, regulations, cases, and other authorities, understand the issue, and provide a thoughtful and organized summary to our legal team. We also have an existing library of contracts, agreements, letters, checklists, and other legal documents that we want to continue improving. We want someone who can help us review and flesh out these templates, research applicable law, identify provisions or issues that should be addressed, compare different approaches, and help us build a stronger legal document library. TITLE AND REAL ESTATE EXPERIENCE You should have meaningful experience reading and reviewing title reports. You should be comfortable reviewing a title report and identifying issues involving mortgages, liens, judgments, taxes, ownership, exceptions, violations, and other matters that may affect a transaction. You do not necessarily need to know the answer to every title problem immediately, but you should understand what you are looking at, recognize potential issues, know what questions to ask, and be able to work with attorneys and title companies to determine how an issue should be addressed. Experience with New York real estate transactions and New York real estate law is strongly preferred. RESPONSIBILITIES Your responsibilities will include: * Reviewing and analyzing title reports * Identifying and tracking title issues and helping coordinate title clearance * Assisting with real estate transactions from contract through closing * Reviewing contracts, assignments, deeds, mortgages, escrow documents, closing documents, payoff documentation, and other real estate documents * Conducting substantive legal research * Researching statutes, regulations, case law, court records, property records, and other legal authorities * Preparing clear legal research summaries for the legal team * Reviewing and improving our existing legal templates and forms * Helping develop new contracts, letters, checklists, and templates * Helping standardize recurring legal documents and processes * Working with title companies and outside attorneys * Communicating with lenders, property managers, vendors, and internal team members * Organizing legal files and maintaining matter trackers * Tracking deadlines, closings, litigation matters, title issues, and outstanding action items * Following up with attorneys and other parties to keep matters moving * Helping develop legal procedures and internal checklists * Helping improve the overall organization and operation of the legal department LEGAL OPERATIONS AND ORGANIZATION Organization is a major part of this position. We have many transactions, properties, legal matters, outside attorneys, deadlines, and projects moving at the same time. We need someone who can help bring structure to that environment. We want someone who follows up without constantly being reminded, keeps good records, maintains organized files and trackers, notices when something has been sitting too long, and helps make sure important items do not fall through the cracks. You should be comfortable taking ownership of projects and figuring out the next step rather than waiting for someone to give you instructions for every individual task. COMMUNICATION Excellent written and spoken English is required. You will regularly communicate with attorneys, title companies, lenders, property managers, vendors, and members of our internal team. We are looking for someone who communicates clearly, professionally, and warmly and who is comfortable asking questions when something does not make sense. QUALIFICATIONS We are particularly interested in candidates with experience involving: * Real estate law * Real estate transactions and closings * Title reports and title clearance * Purchase and sale agreements * Assignments of contracts * Deeds and mortgages * Liens and judgments * Foreclosures * Landlord-tenant matters * Real estate litigation support * Property and court-record research * Legal research and writing * Drafting or improving legal agreements and templates * Working with title companies * Working with outside real estate attorneys * Legal operations or matter management New York real estate experience is a significant plus. Experience with Google Drive, Microsoft Office, Excel/Google Sheets, Podio, CRM systems, or legal matter-management systems is also helpful. THE TYPE OF PERSON WHO WILL DO WELL HERE We are looking for someone who is: * Highly organized * Detail-oriented * Proactive * Reliable * Responsive * A strong communicator * Comfortable taking ownership * Intellectually curious * Good at legal research * Able to think through legal issues rather than simply process paperwork * Comfortable managing many matters simultaneously * Interested in improving processes and systems * Friendly and collaborative Most importantly, we want someone with genuine real estate legal experience who can become a trusted member of our legal team. This is intended to be a full-time, long-term position with a growing company. We are looking for someone who wants to learn our business, take on responsibility, and grow with the team. TO APPLY Please tell us about your real estate legal experience and specifically address the following: 1. How many years have you worked in real estate law, title, or real estate transactions? 2. What experience do you have reviewing title reports? Please give an example of the types of title issues you have encountered. 3. What experience do you have conducting substantive legal research? Please give an example of a legal issue you researched involving statutes, regulations, or case law. 4. What experience do you have drafting, reviewing, or improving legal agreements and templates? 5. Do you have experience with New York real estate law or New York real estate transactions? If so, please describe it. 6. What types of real estate transactions have you worked on? 7. Have you worked directly with title companies and outside real estate attorneys? 8. How do you organize and track a large number of active legal matters and deadlines? Please begin your proposal with the words "REAL ESTATE" so we know you have read the full posting. We look forward to hearing from you.