Associate Attorney

Starts Align; Atlanta (GA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual Bonus

Company-paid annual bar dues

Competitive benefits package

Job summary

Starts Align, a growing commercial real estate and telecom investment firm, is expanding its in-house legal team with two Closing Attorneys to support a rapid increase in CRE and infrastructure transactions.

You will own the closing process from LOI through negotiation and closing, advising on deal structure, leases, and due diligence. Strong CRE closing experience and easement negotiation are essential; telecom infra experience is a plus.

Qualifications

• 3–5 years of hands-on commercial real estate transactional experience.
• Strong drafting and negotiating experience on CRE agreements (P&S, easements, leases).
• Experience reviewing and negotiating easement agreements is highly preferred.
• Ability to manage a high-volume transaction pipeline with multiple deadlines.
• Experience in law firm or in-house setting; cross-functional collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Manage commercial real estate transactions from LOI through closing.
• Advise acquisitions on deal structure and lease questions during deal development.
• Draft, review, and negotiate LOIs and CRE documents (P&S, leases, amendments).
• Lead easement review and negotiation as a core closing component.
• Coordinate with title companies, outside counsel, and transaction participants.
• Oversee a portfolio of 15–20 concurrent transactions to start; scale with experience.
• Leverage AI-enabled tools to improve due diligence, lease review, and transaction efficiency.

Skills

CRE transactions

Drafting & negotiating CRE agreements

Easement negotiation

Lease review

Due diligence management

AI-enabled tools usage

Education

Juris Doctor (JD)

Tools

AI-enabled legal tools

Job description

A growing commercial real estate and telecom investment firm is expanding its in-house legal team and seeking two Closing Attorneys to support a rapidly increasing volume of commercial real estate and infrastructure transactions.

These are newly created positions designed to add capacity to a high-performing legal team and develop the next generation of attorneys within the organization. The Closing Attorneys will work closely with Senior Counsel, acquisitions professionals, and shared paralegal resources, initially managing approximately 15–20 active transactions while supporting senior attorneys on larger and more complex closings.

This role will become involved early in the transaction lifecycle, advising the acquisitions team on deal structure and lease-related issues, assisting with LOI revisions, and ultimately owning the legal process through negotiation, due diligence, documentation, and closing.

The strongest candidates will have 3–5 years of hands-on commercial real estate transactional experience, particularly negotiating easements and drafting purchase and sale agreements and other CRE documents. Telecommunications or wireless infrastructure experience is highly desirable but not required; strong commercial real estate closing experience is the priority.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage commercial real estate transactions from the early deal/LOI stage through closing.
• Partner with acquisitions professionals on transaction structure, lease questions, and other legal issues that arise during deal development.
• Review, revise, and draft Letters of Intent (LOIs).
• Draft, review, and negotiate commercial real estate transaction documents, including:
• Easement agreements
• Purchase and Sale Agreements
• Lease-related documents
• Amendments and ancillary closing documents
• Take a lead role in easement review and negotiation, a critical component of the company's transactions.
• Review and analyze existing leases and other underlying real estate documentation.
• Manage and supervise legal due diligence, leveraging shared paralegal support where appropriate.
• Identify title, lease, easement, contractual, and other issues that could impact an acquisition or closing.
• Coordinate with counterparties, outside counsel, title companies, and other transaction participants.
• Track and resolve outstanding closing items to ensure transactions remain on schedule.
• Manage approximately 15–20 concurrent transactions initially, with responsibility increasing as experience and familiarity with the platform grow.
• Support Senior Counsel on larger and more complex transactions with aggressive closing timelines.
• Work cross-functionally with acquisitions, finance, operations, and legal teams in a high-volume, deal-oriented environment.
• Utilize AI-enabled legal tools and workflows to improve lease analysis, easement review, due diligence, and transaction efficiency.

Qualifications

• JD from an accredited law school.
• Active membership in good standing with any U.S. state bar.
• Approximately 3–5 years of commercial real estate transactional/closing experience preferred.
• Strong hands-on experience drafting and negotiating commercial real estate agreements.
• Experience reviewing and negotiating easement agreements strongly preferred.
• Experience drafting and negotiating Purchase and Sale Agreements.
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• Ability to analyze commercial leases and identify material legal and transactional issues.
• Experience independently managing commercial real estate transactions through closing.
• Comfortable handling a high-volume transaction pipeline with multiple simultaneous deadlines.
• Strong drafting, negotiation, organizational, and communication skills.
• Experience may come from either a law firm or in-house environment.
• Telecommunications, wireless infrastructure, tower, or digital infrastructure experience is a plus, not a requirement.
• Familiarity with AI tools for legal research, document review, drafting, or transaction workflows is highly desirable; candidates should be comfortable adopting AI as the company continues integrating it into its legal processes.

Team & Growth

The legal department operates in a collaborative structure with Senior Counsel, Closing Attorneys, and shared paralegal support. The new attorneys will work closely with senior members of the team, including John and James, while developing the ability to independently own a larger transaction portfolio.

The team currently manages a significant volume of transactions, with senior attorneys carrying approximately 30–40 active deals at a time. New hires will ramp into the platform with a smaller portfolio while assisting senior attorneys on larger transactions and time-sensitive closings.

This is an excellent opportunity for a junior-to-mid-level attorney who wants to move closer to the business, gain significant transaction volume, and develop quickly within an in-house investment environment.

Location

The company intends to hire up to two attorneys:

• Atlanta: Strong preference for candidates located in Atlanta who can work in-office. Southeast-based candidates may also be considered. The company is open to hiring both attorneys in Atlanta for the right candidates.
• Western U.S.: Alternatively, one attorney may be hired fully remote in the Mountain or Pacific Time Zone, excluding California, to provide additional time-zone coverage.
• Annual Bonus
• Maximum Target Total Compensation: Approximately $200,000
• Additional back-office/company bonus eligibility following the initial 90-day period, prorated as applicable
• Company-paid annual bar dues
• Competitive benefits package

Candidates with more than 5 years of experience are welcome to apply; however, compensation is expected to remain within the established range for the position.