Senior Leasing Counsel

About This Opportunity

At Regency Centers, our people are our greatest asset, and we believe that our highly skilled and talented team makes us better. We are seeking a Senior Leasing Counsel to join our regional office located in Westport, Connecticut. This position requires advanced-level skills in retail leasing and strong organizational and management skills, including building, managing, and being a part of an effective team. This individual will provide high-quality, timely, and cost-effective legal advice to manage risk and protect Regency’s interests. This person may lead, manage, and direct a subgroup of Regency’s in-house Legal team, including attorneys and paralegals, focused on retail leasing within a particular region.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Provide advanced retail leasing and related transactional legal support, primarily on a regional basis, in collaboration with Regency's business and corporate teams, outside counsel, tenants, and tenants' counsel.
• Draft, negotiate, review, and revise retail leases (including shop, ground, and anchor leases) and related leasing documents, property operations documents, and national contracts.
• Provide legal analysis and guidance on complex leasing and leasing-related matters.
• Review and analyze leases, related agreements, title documents, and surveys to address business needs, evaluate risk, and determine appropriate courses of action.
• Prepare detailed lease summaries, exhibits, matrices, legal memoranda, and abstracts related to exclusive, restricted, and prohibited uses, redevelopment rights, signage rights, control areas, and other lease provisions.
• Assist with determining, drafting, and revising consents and other documentation needed to support business objectives.
• Manage and support legal team members, including counsel and paralegals, as well as outside counsel, including providing training and development opportunities.
• Drive process improvements related to legal team operations, business support, leasing forms, training, procedures, and collaboration with internal stakeholders and outside counsel.

Are You Qualified?

• Juris Doctor Degree from an ABA certified law school.
• Membership in state bar association.
• At least eight (8) years of experience as a practicing retail leasing attorney, including experience in other commercial real estate matters and agreements such as acquisitions/dispositions, financings, and due diligence (e.g., title and survey review).
• Previous law firm and/or in-house legal experience required.
• Prior supervisory experience of assistants or paralegals required.
• Advanced-level legal drafting skills, analytical skills, oral and written communication skills, problem-solving, conflict resolution, negotiation skills, research, writing and advocacy skills.
• Proficiency in or ability to quickly learn Microsoft 365 products and technology.
• Ability to understand and learn to use new technologies, including AI.
• Familiarity with e-billing and matter management systems (the department currently uses Ascent).
• Ability to develop and implement systems to gather and use data and KPIs to support legal department operations.
• Familiarity with other technologies and their productive use within legal departments.

Personal Traits We Value

• Self-motivated, works equally well independently and with a team in a multi-tasking, dynamic, team-oriented environment.
• High level of professionalism and integrity; must be trustworthy and able to handle confidential and proprietary information appropriately.
• Strong attention to detail, organization, priority setting and time-management skills.
• Good customer and task focus coupled with interpersonal savvy and perseverance skills.
• Enthusiasm and aptitude for learning and appropriately leveraging emerging technologies.
• Ability to effectively collaborate with team members to achieve goals in a positive and constructive manner.
• Ability to communicate effectively in a variety of settings, analyzing and presenting complex information with ease and reliable accuracy.
• Ability to be accountable, handle multiple challenges, and drive for results at a brisk pace.
• Ability to effectively mentor, train, manage, motivate, lead and develop legal team members.

Benefits

• Work/Life Balance: 23+ PTO days annually, 11 paid holidays (in addition to PTO), Hybrid Work Schedule, Modified in-office hours, Dedicated remote work days.
• Financial Security: 401(k) with a generous company match plus corporate profit sharing, Anniversary stock grant awards, Health Savings Account (HSA), Health Care FSA, and Dependent Care FSA, 100% company paid Life Insurance/AD&D and Disability Insurance.
• Community Focused: Company gift matching, Grown and Development opportunities, LinkedIn Learning premium subscription, Professional membership support, Employee Resource Groups.

Connecticut Residents

• Regency Centers carefully considers multiple factors to determine compensation, including a candidate’s education, training, and experience. The Connecticut hiring salary range for the Senior Leasing Counsel position is between $200,000 and $240,000 annually. The base salary is just one component of the total rewards package offered to our employees, including eligibility for a 20% target bonus opportunity. The compensation that is offered to a successful candidate will depend on the candidate’s skills, qualifications, and experience.