General Counsel

The General Counsel will serve as chief in-house counsel for 196 corporate owned economy extended-stay hotels consisting of 24,000+ hotel rooms across 22 States. In this role you will be expected to lead a team of 9 Legal, Risk Management, Quality Assurance & Compliance professionals tasked with overseeing all legal, risk and compliance related issues including Litigation, Contract Negotiations, Insurance, Fire/Life Safety, Quality Assurance, Worker’s Compensation, Risk Mitigation/Optimization, Collections, Media Relations and Government Regulatory/REIT Compliance.

I. Position Responsibilities: Essential

Member of senior leadership team who will also serve as Corporate Secretary to Board of Directors including maintaining all requisite corporate governance type documentation.

Create, draft and review all service provider agreements such as employment, construction and 3rd party vendor agreements.

Liaison with outside counsel regarding all litigation matters.

Manage all Media and Government Relations matters including responding to all media inquiries, engaging lobbyists to lead legislative initiatives and working directly with State and Local Officials to find mutually beneficial solutions to matters affecting our Hotels

Responsible for all aspects of supervising and coordinating the efforts of Fire & Life Safety, Risk Management and Quality Assurance departments.

Oversee the procurement and renewal of all insurance policies including General Liability, Worker’s Compensation, Property, D&O and Management Liability.

Create new corporate entities from time to time and manage Company's intellectual property.

Oversee and support negotiations, financing and acquisitions related to new property development/re-development.

II. Essential Skills/Credentials/Experience/Education

Juris Doctor Degree from accredited, top-tier law school and active license in good standing in at least one State (GA License not required).

At least 8 years of practical experience in a major law firm and/or as an in-house counsel.

Proficient legal experience in fund investments, financing, real estate transactions and M&A. REIT & Hospitality/Hotel experience preferred but not required.

Experience with corporate governance issues and corporate secretarial duties.

Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Strong initiative & excellent skills in management and problem-solving with the ability to influence at varying levels of the organization.

III. Mental and Physical Demands

Work Environment:

Typical office environment – moderate noise level.

Physical Demands:

Indoor work with hard and carpeted surfaces

Must be able to remain in a stationary positon 50% of the time

This position is occasionally required to sit; climb or balance; and stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl. The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.

Extensive use of hands and fingers for manipulation of keyboard, answering phone calls, calculator, copy machine, computer printer and other office productivity machinery.

Use of computer terminal, which requires extensive eye contact with a video display terminal.

The person in this position frequently communicates with employees/vendors. Must be able to exchange accurate information in these situations.

Travel Demands:

This position requires less than 20% travel; however, from time to time, and depending on the project, travel needs could change.

The Company has reviewed this job description to ensure that essential functions and basic duties have been included. It is intended to provide guidelines for job expectations and the employee's ability to perform the position described. It is not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all functions, responsibilities, skills and abilities. Additional functions and requirements may be assigned by managers/supervisors as deemed appropriate. This document does not represent an expressed or implied contract of employment nor does it alter your at-will employment, and the Company reserves the right to change this job description and/or assign tasks for the employee to perform, as the Company may deem appropriate.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)