Description Position Overview We are seeking a high-impact Corporate Counsel & Litigation Manager to join our in-house legal department to lead, modernize, and scale our landlord-tenant legal operations across a diverse multifamily portfolio. This is a role for a courtroom-tested litigator who is equally energized by legal operations, workflow engineering, technology adoption, and portfolio-level analytics. You will have full authority to design and enforce new legal workflows, leverage existing and emerging software, including Yardi to its fullest capabilities, and build a data-driven legal ecosystem that aligns with institutional standards seen in NAA-benchmarked operators. The ideal candidate will have 5 -7 years of experience with extensive court appearances and hands-on litigation management, including New York landlord-tenant proceedings. The successful candidate will work closely with property management, asset management, operations, and outside counsel to protect the Company’s legal and business interests while providing practical, business-oriented advice. Requirements Key Responsibilities Courtroom Litigation & Case Management • Litigate nonpayment, holdover, nuisance, order-to-show-cause, and bankruptcy-impacted matters across landlord-tenant courts. • Manage all phases of the eviction lifecycle, including notices, petitions, motions, stipulations, and warrant execution. • Ensure cases move efficiently from filing to resolution. • Negotiate settlements and resolutions designed to minimize risk and litigation costs. • Develop litigation strategies that reduce cycle time and improve resolution outcomes. • Identify litigation trends and develop proactive legal strategies. Legal Operations Modernization • Overhaul and scale all playbooks, notice libraries, escalation protocols, and default-resolution frameworks. • Implement standardized, enforceable workflows across property management, legal, and operations teams. • Drive a culture of operational discipline and compliance with statutory timelines. • Develop and train support staff on legal operations modernization and technology initiatives. Technology, Automation & Yardi Integration • Leverage Yardi Voyager Legal to automate notice workflows, track statutory timelines, and audit tenant ledgers. • Partner with internal teams to enhance data governance, accuracy, and reporting integrity. • Identify opportunities for automation, dashboarding, and workflow triggers to reduce manual work and error rates. Institutional-Grade Metrics & Reporting You will build and own a legal performance dashboard, including: • Days-to-Resolution and cycle time by case type • Legal Aging Buckets and portfolio legal exposure • Notice Accuracy & SLA Compliance • Ledger Audit Accuracy • Eviction Filing Rate per 100 Units • Outside Counsel Spend vs. Budget • Bad Debt Recovery & Write-Off Rates You will present these metrics directly to executive leadership and influence portfolio-level strategy. Outside Counsel Oversight & Budget Discipline • Manage outside counsel with a focus on budget discipline, performance tracking, and adherence to company workflows. • Establish expectations for reporting, timelines, and outcome metrics. • Ensure external firms operate as extensions of the in-house legal department—not independent silos. • Audit outside counsel spend and identify cost trends and savings opportunities. Cross-Functional Leadership & Influence • Collaborate with property management, operations, finance, and compliance to enforce legal workflows. • Serve as the subject-matter expert on L&T law, statutory timelines, and risk mitigation. • Lead training initiatives to elevate legal literacy across the organization. Department Growth & Strategic Impact • Leverage existing paralegal support and help shape future team expansion. • Contribute to long-term legal department design, including potential roles in compliance, risk, and broader litigation. • Play a key role in aligning legal operations with portfolio growth and corporate strategy. Required Qualifications • 5 - 7 years of active, high-volume landlord-tenant litigation experience in New York. • JD and active NYS Bar admission in good standing. • Demonstrated expertise in OSCs, nuisance litigation, and bankruptcy stay navigation. • Hands-on experience with Yardi, including legal workflows and ledger auditing. • Strong analytical skills and comfort presenting data to senior executives. • Proven ability to design and enforce process-driven systems. Preferred Qualifications • Experience with institutional owners, or large multifamily operators. • Exposure to legal operations, process engineering, or workflow automation. • Familiarity with operational benchmarks and industry best practices. • Experience building dashboards or working with analytics tools. Who Thrives in This Role • A courtroom tactician with a systems-builder mindset • Tech-forward, data-driven, and energized by modernization • Comfortable enforcing discipline across departments • Ready to step out of the billable-hour grind and into a leadership trajectory • Motivated by the opportunity to build a best-in-class legal department