The Corporate Governance Paralegal is responsible for managing the renewal and processing of all licenses, including liquor licenses, for all locations within the existing fleet (restaurant, To-Go, and any other locations). This role also involves managing the processing of new leases and other real estate documents, maintaining physical company records and file room, and managing the real estate workflow for new matters within our system of record (Tango). The paralegal will provide negotiation assistance for new lease matters, supporting the General Counsel and internal stakeholders, and ensure compliance with company policies, procedures, and compliance obligations.
Principal Duties & Responsibilities:
- Maintain all required licenses in their active state and update records systems and files accordingly.
- Monitor all renewal requirements and process renewals in a timely manner for all licenses, including but not limited to liquor, business, health, alarm, public assembly, and other business permits to ensure company compliance with laws.
- Obtain licenses for restaurants for special events as needed.
- Communicate with various levels of management, operations, and government agencies as needed.
- Conduct legal research and provide legal support for special projects and assignments, including processing indemnification agreements as needed.
- Manage outside counsel for renewal needs and other changes to licenses, including officer updates and manager changes.
- Assist in conducting due diligence concerning alcohol licenses and other operations-related licenses for new restaurant openings.
- Coordinate the sale of liquor licenses for sites closing.
- Coordinate the Special Use Permit/Conditional Use Permit process when necessary as it relates to alcohol licenses and effectively communicate any SUP/CUP conditions to business partners as requested.
- Assist the GC with the negotiations of new lease matters, including preparing initial drafts, ensuring documents properly reflect approved deal terms from LOIs, reviewing, revising, drafting, tracking, performing file maintenance, and providing negotiation assistance for all new lease matters.
- Research, recommend, and work with GC to implement updates to real estate document templates, best practices, policies, and processes relating to new leases.
- Manage the processing of licenses, including liquor licenses, for new sites.
- Supervise the performance and workload of the Licensing Paralegal and the Licensing and RE Specialist Assistant for renewal of all licenses and licensing matters.
- Perform abstracting of new real estate documents pursuant to company policies and practices.
- Update systems of record, including Tango, for processed documents.
- Coordinate with the GC to provide real estate documentation interpretations, advice, and guidance to internal business teams to ensure compliance with real estate obligations and the enforcement of rights.
- Prepare, maintain, and file various corporate and partnership documents, including qualifications and registrations to do business, fictitious/assumed business name statements, annual reports, and corporate, LLC, and LLP dissolutions.
- Maintain status charts, including corporate entity charts, officer and director lists.
- Maintain and update corporate records, including providing assistance with preparation of Board Consents and Minutes.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities:
- A minimum of 8 years of experience as a real estate paralegal for new lease negotiations and post-lease/fleet management matters.
- A minimum of 4 years of experience processing licenses (including liquor licenses) and dealing with licensing matters.
- Familiarity with licensing terms and concepts and the ability to draft accordingly.
- Ability to work under pressure and prioritize competing demands.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Excellent organizational skills, strong attention to detail, and ability to effectively manage multiple contractual activities with a short turn-around time.
- Ability to complete assigned tasks accurately and on time with minimal supervision.
- Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written skills, with the ability to analyze and present relevant information and solutions to all levels of the organization.
- Experience in managing multiple tasks of varying difficulty and complexity.
- Ability to work independently as well as part of a team.
- Excellent working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, particularly Word, Excel, and Outlook, as well as Tango and Barlap software, with a willingness to learn new software as business develops.
- Familiarity with administration of electronic signature programs, such as Adobe Sign or DocuSign.
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience.
- Paralegal certificate preferred.
Competencies:
- Customer/Client Focus
- Collaboration Skills
- Communication Proficiency
- Problem Solving/Analysis
- Thoroughness
- Time Management
- Integrity and Trust
- Respect
- Partnership
- Motivation
