Legal Counsel - Property & Development

ESR is the largest pan-Asian logistics group with offices in China, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, India, Indonesia and Australia.  Head office is based in China / Hong Kong which is home to a Group General Counsel and Group legal function that has oversight over all of the country based legal teams operating across the ESR Group.

ESR Australia and New Zealand (ESR) has recently integrated with LOGOS Australia to create the second largest industrial development platform in the region. The current ESR Legal, Governance & Risk team is comprised of 10 staff based across the Sydney and Melbourne offices. The role is a newly created permanent role that reflects growth in the business.

The Legal Counsel role will report to the Head of Property - Legal and will act for ESR managed funds in relation to:

·        Acquisitions and divestments of property;

·        Development of land including negotiating building contracts and Agreements for Lease;

·        Leasing and asset management;

·        General commercial and contract advice to the broader business.

Key Relationships

• Head of Capital Transactions, Development Managers and Fund Managers – As a lawyer running material legal transactions, the ability to build and maintain strong and effective relationships with the relevant business units is essential.
• External Law Firms – The role will be responsible for instructing external legal counsel and managing transaction legal budgets.  The aim is to provide a seamless legal service utilising both internal and external legal resources where the role instructs, challenges, directs and enhances the performance of external legal and acts as the conduit point of contact for the business. 

Key Accountabilities

• Capital Transactions – Assisting the General Counsel and the broader legal team by autonomously running transactions for the acquisition or divestment of assets. This includes managing external legal counsel and all internal stakeholders relevant to the transaction including, Funds Management, Finance, Tax and Treasury.
• Development – Supporting the development team by running development transactions. This includes negotiating Heads of Agreement and working with external legal counsel and internal stakeholders to negotiate Agreements for Lease and Leases with prospective tenants, building contracts for the construction of the site and assisting the development team with general planning and development issues.
• Leasing & Asset Management – Assisting the asset management team with leasing and asset management issues for stabilised assets.
• Commercial – Provision of general commercial advice and contract review to the business including confidentiality agreements, consultancy agreements and general contract advice.

Key Challenges

• Effectively managing key stakeholders with competing time pressures.
• Meeting transaction timeframes and deadlines.
• Effectively managing external legal counsel.
• Applying and contributing to internal systems and processes to ensure ongoing compliance with internal delegation, legal and regulatory obligations.

Requirements

• Minimum 2+ years PQE in Commercial Property Law gained in a recognised law firm or in-house legal team
• A motivated lawyer capable of building relationships with key stakeholders and able to work autonomously across the multiple disciplines that make up the core functions of the business
• A hands-on lawyer who enjoys complex transactional work and working closely with internal deal teams
• A lawyer who enjoys working as a key member of a team in a dynamic business that is continually expanding and evolving
• A willingness to take on tasks and learn new skills