Job Details

Our client, a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in owning, developing, and managing multifamily apartment communities, primarily on the West Coast, is seeking to hire an experienced litigation paralegal to help manage the company's litigation matters and claims. This is a permanent, direct-hire role with the company.

Title: Litigation Paralegal

Experience: 5+ Years

Location: Hybrid (San Mateo, CA, USA)

The Company's Legal Department is integral to the Company's day-to-day operations and strategic success and provides practical, business-oriented and efficient advice on all legal matters. The department is functionally responsible for all the Company's legal affairs in California, Washington, and beyond, and serves both to ensure legal and ethical compliance, and to collaborate with across departments as a business partner to help create enterprise value consistent with the Company's business model. The culture of the department is fast-paced, collaborative, smart, and professional.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Litigation & Claims Management

• Serve as first line responder to property incident report tickets in coordination with site teams, with escalation to Senior Paralegal as appropriate.
• Assist with management of general liability litigation and pre-litigation matters at the direction of the Senior Paralegal, including general matter management; discovery investigations and collection; processing settlements; billing reviews; coordination with outside counsel, insurers, and brokers; and budget oversight.
• Assist with collecting litigation budgets, monitoring reserves, and ensuring timely and effective reporting to relevant stakeholders.
• Identify claims trends and escalate to Senior Paralegal as needed.

Compliance & Risk Mitigation

• Assist in regular compliance assessments to identify risk exposure, non-compliance, and process gaps.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to develop remediation plans and implement corrective actions at the direction of the Senior Paralegal.
• Assist in investigations into internal complaints and compliance concerns; recommend and execute corrective measures as needed.
• Monitor and report on compliance metrics to support business decision-making.

Operational Legal Support

• Serve as a first-line responder to Property Operations (1,300+ team members) on a variety of matters, in coordination with site teams, with escalation to Senior Paralegal, as appropriate
• Negotiate and draft various legal agreements including settlement agreements and lease terminations.
• Participate in development and delivery of legal training for site teams on high-risk and recurring issues.

Policy & Process Development

• Assist with updates to internal policies, procedures, and forms in response to evolving laws and regulations.
• Contribute to department-wide legal initiatives and special projects as assigned by the Vice President, Legal & General Counsel.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education & Licensure

• Bachelor's degree
• Completion of a paralegal program approved by the American Bar Association or a Certificate of completion from an accredited postsecondary institution with at least 24 semester units in law-related courses; OR Bachelor's degree in any subject plus at least one year of law-related experience under attorney supervision.

Experience

• 5–7+ years of legal experience, preferably with a blend of law firm and in-house experience.
• Demonstrated litigation and claims management experience required.
• Experience in regulatory compliance and landlord/tenant law strongly preferred.
• Experience using Legal Tracker, LinkSquares, or ServiceNow is a plus.
• Experience in multifamily ral estate, insurance, or risk management a plus

Skills & Competencies

• Strategic thinker with a business-oriented approach to legal problem solving.
• Skilled in managing outside counsel and internal clients across functional levels.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to distill complex legal issues into practical guidance.
• Strong interpersonal skills with a collaborative, team-first mindset.
• Proven ability to prioritize, manage multiple high-impact projects, and deliver results in a fastpaced environment.
• High attention to detail, analytical acumen, and proficiency in interpreting legal data.
• Technologically adept with strong organizational and time-management capabilities.