Real Estate Counsel
The Quest Organization
Cleveland, OH
Real Estate Counsel
We are seeking a seasoned Real Estate Counsel to support a dynamic pipeline of commercial real estate activity while driving efficiency across legal workflows. This is a high-impact, hybrid role blending hands-on transactional work with legal operations and outside counsel management.
Roughly 50% of the role is dedicated to executing real estate transactions, with the remaining 50% focused on matter management, prioritization, budgeting, and oversight of external legal partners.
This is an ideal opportunity for a business-minded attorney who enjoys staying close to deals while also building structure and scalability within a growing organization.
Responsibilities:
Real Estate Transactions
- Draft, review, and negotiate agreements across acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, construction (AIA), financing, and property management
- Support diligence efforts including title, survey, zoning, and environmental review
- Structure and document transactions involving historic tax credits, Opportunity Zones, and other incentive-based programs
- Provide practical, business-oriented legal guidance throughout the deal lifecycle
- Partner cross-functionally with Acquisitions, Development, Asset Management, Accounting, and Operations
Legal Operations & Matter Management
- Serve as primary liaison to outside counsel; manage performance, budgets, and deliverables
- Triage legal requests, allocate internal vs. external resources, and oversee matters through resolution
- Implement and refine legal workflows, tracking systems, and intake processes
- Monitor legal spend and ensure cost-effective execution
Additional Responsibilities
- Support adoption of AI and legal tech to improve efficiency and consistency
- Develop templates, playbooks, and internal documentation
- Provide guidance on corporate governance, compliance, and regulatory matters
Qualifications:
- J.D. from an accredited U.S. law school; active bar membership (Ohio preferred)
- 7+ years of transactional experience (law firm or in-house)
- Strong background in commercial real estate transactions
- Experience managing outside counsel and complex legal matters preferred
- Exposure to tax credit or incentive-based real estate structures is a plus
- Strong drafting, negotiation, and analytical capabilities
- Highly organized with the ability to manage multiple priorities
- Business-oriented mindset with sound judgment
- Comfortable leveraging legal technology and AI tools
- Effective communicator across legal and non-legal stakeholders
About the Company
The Quest Organization
For over 30 years, The Quest Organization and its related entities have been a highly respected leader in Executive Search and Business Advisory Services, taking a holistic approach to finding not only the most talented individuals for “C” level executives and Middle Management Professionals, but making sure that our clients have truly defined their need both from a technical perspective and an overall “fit perspective. The hallmark of our success is the extraordinary experience and business acumen of our professional staff with a combined 50+ years of achievements in Executive Search and Advisory Services.
With backgrounds as CPAs in the Big “4″ and as financial professionals in industry, we are uniquely positioned to provide our clients with meaningful hiring recommendations, grounded in a thorough understanding of their overall business including their operations, finance, accounting, human capital and sales.
Our staff through their daily transactions in the employment marketplace and extensive participation in regional business organizations, is well positioned to provide candidates from mid level to CEO’s with insightful advice on career planning and positioning. Every candidate that we represent, benefits from a comprehensive interview to ensure they are considered for appropriate opportunities which match their capabilities, experience, desired compensation and quality of life attributes. We are known to provide the most meticulous interview preparation and follow through in the industry.