Senior Counsel

April Housing•Los Angeles, CA

About The Position

April Housing is seeking a Senior Counsel to join its in-house legal team. This is a broad, business-facing legal role for a lawyer who wants to be embedded in the day-to-day work of owning, operating, preserving, and investing in affordable housing at scale. The Senior Counsel will serve as a practical legal and business partner to teams across asset management, investments, capital markets, and senior leadership. The role includes transaction support, but is broader than a traditional transaction execution role. It emphasizes day-to-day business counseling, commercial negotiations, operational problem solving, dispute management, risk assessment, and strategic initiatives. The ideal candidate is a senior associate with approximately 5 to 7 years of experience who enjoys variety, takes ownership, communicates clearly with non-lawyers, and is interested in developing a strong understanding of how an institutional real estate platform operates. Familiarity with affordable housing or the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program is preferred but not required.

Requirements

J.D. from an accredited law school.
Active membership in good standing with at least one U.S. state bar.
Approximately 5 to 7 years of legal experience in a law firm, real estate investment platform, REIT, developer, owner/operator, financial institution, or similar organization.
Strong real estate, commercial contracting, or business counseling experience.
Ability to draft, review, and negotiate agreements with sound judgment and attention to detail.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain legal issues clearly to business teams.
Strong organizational and project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple matters at once.
Practical, solutions-oriented approach and willingness to work across a broad range of legal and business issues.

Nice To Haves

Experience with commercial or multifamily real estate transactions.
Familiarity with affordable housing, LIHTC, tax-exempt bond financings, HUD programs, regulatory agreements, or other public-private real estate structures.
Prior in-house experience or demonstrated interest in moving into a business-facing in-house role.
Experience supporting institutional investors, private equity sponsors, real estate owners, developers, operators, or asset management platforms.
Experience with disputes, claims, operational risk, or compliance-sensitive matters.

Responsibilities

Serve as a Strategic Business Partner: Advise business teams on legal and operational issues arising across a national affordable housing portfolio. Partner with asset management, investments, capital markets, and senior leadership to evaluate risk and develop practical solutions. Provide clear, business-oriented guidance in situations where legal, operational, reputational, and resident-facing considerations intersect. Help translate legal analysis into actionable recommendations for non-lawyer stakeholders. Work directly with senior leaders on cross-functional priorities and projects.
Lead Legal Operations, Entity Management, and Governance Support: Manage entity formation, maintenance, and dissolution. Maintain organizational structure charts and entity records. Prepare incumbency, authority, and related governance documentation. Support delegated authority and approval processes. Support sanctions-related compliance activities and related cross-functional initiatives.
Support Real Estate Transactions and Preservation Initiatives: Support acquisitions, dispositions, financings, refinancings, restructurings, resyndications, and other strategic transactions. Draft, review, and negotiate purchase and sale agreements, loan documents, easements, access agreements, leases, settlement agreements, and related transaction documents. Manage outside counsel and consultants and coordinate communication across lenders, counterparties, and internal stakeholders. Advise on regulatory agreements, affordability restrictions, housing agency matters, bond issuer requirements, and related affordable housing considerations. Assist with transactions involving LIHTC properties, tax-exempt bonds, and other affordable housing financing structures.
Provide Asset Management and Operational Legal Support: Serve as a day-to-day legal resource for asset management on property operations and risk management. Review, draft, and negotiate commercial agreements, including property management agreements, vendor contracts, consulting agreements, access agreements, nondisclosure agreements, and other operating agreements. Advise on property-level issues, resident-related matters, third-party relationships, and operational escalations. Support the creation and refinement of legal templates, playbooks, policies, and processes that improve consistency and scalability. Oversee the Company’s legal billing platform, conflicts approvals, and onboarding of legal counsel. Help the Company balance practical business needs, legal risk, resident impact, and long-term preservation goals.
Manage Disputes, Claims, and Risk Issues: Support pre-litigation disputes, claims, investigations, and litigation matters in partnership with outside counsel. Assist with insurance recovery, indemnity issues, property-level disputes, and other risk mitigation efforts. Evaluate potential legal exposure and recommend practical paths to resolution. Coordinate with internal stakeholders to preserve facts, manage communications, and support timely decision-making.