Tax Attorney & Contracts Counsel

Signal and Strand

$225K — $265K *
Legal & Accounting
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • JD from an accredited law school; active California State Bar member (or ability to obtain admission promptly)
  • 7+ years of relevant legal experience, ideally in tax law and transactional/contracts work
  • Substantive experience with REITs and complex property ownership structures
  • Demonstrated experience with M&A and private investment transactions
  • Excellent contract drafting and negotiation skills
  • Working knowledge of trusts, estates, and wealth transfer planning concepts
  • Ability to operate discretely with high-net-worth clients, demonstrating sound judgment.

Responsibilities

  • Advise on tax matters affecting the family's investment and real estate portfolio.
  • Structure, review, and negotiate contracts for property acquisitions and joint ventures.
  • Provide legal guidance on mergers and direct investments, including due diligence.
  • Design and execute complex property ownership transfers and entity restructurings.
  • Support the creation and maintenance of trusts and estate planning with outside counsel.
  • Draft and negotiate a variety of commercial agreements, including operating agreements and NDAs.
  • Monitor tax law changes, advising on planning opportunities and compliance risks.

Benefits

  • Direct exposure to family principals and senior advisors
  • High-trust, high-visibility in-house role
  • A pivotal moment in the family's consolidation of diversified assets
  • Opportunity to work in a lean team environment
  • Discretion in handling sensitive family legal matters.
Full Job Description
We are partnered with a private, ultra-high-net-worth family office on the search for its next Tax Attorney & Contracts Counsel. This is a high-trust, high-visibility in-house counsel role with direct exposure to family principals and senior advisors, reporting to the General Counsel / Chief Operating Officer and serving as a core member of the legal and advisory team.

The family office is at a pivotal moment - consolidating a sophisticated, diversified portfolio and formalizing how tax strategy, transactional execution, and long-term wealth planning come together across real estate, REITs, private investments, and multi-generational trust structures.

This attorney will be responsible for shaping tax-efficient structures end-to-end while ensuring disciplined contract execution, transactional precision, and the discretion this family's affairs require.
The Mandate

This organization is very clear about what it is - and is not - seeking.

They are not looking for a narrow tax technician who hands every agreement off to outside counsel, nor a generalist contracts attorney without real tax depth.

They are seeking a builder-operator of legal work: an attorney who can structure a tax-efficient transaction and then draft, negotiate, and close the agreements that execute it - end to end, with the judgment and discretion befitting a single-family office.
Key Responsibilities
  • Advise on federal, state, and local tax matters affecting the family's holding structures, investment vehicles, and real estate portfolio, including REITs and other tax-advantaged ownership structures.
  • Structure, review, and negotiate contracts and transaction documents for real property acquisitions, dispositions, financings, and joint ventures.
  • Provide legal and tax guidance on mergers, acquisitions, and direct and fund-level investments, including due diligence and deal structuring.
  • Design and execute complex transfers of real and personal property ownership, including entity restructurings, 1031 exchanges, and intra-family transfers.
  • Support the creation, administration, and ongoing maintenance of trusts and estate planning structures in coordination with outside estate counsel.
  • Draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of commercial agreements, including purchase and sale agreements, operating agreements, service agreements, and NDAs.
  • Monitor changes in tax law and regulations and proactively advise the family office on planning opportunities and compliance risk.
  • Coordinate with outside counsel, accountants, and other advisors on complex transactions and specialized tax matters.
  • Maintain corporate records, entity filings, and governance documentation for the family's various holding entities.
Ideal Profile
  • JD from an accredited law school; active member in good standing of the California State Bar (or ability to obtain California admission promptly).
  • LLM in Taxation preferred, but not required with sufficiently strong practice experience.
  • 7+ years of relevant legal experience, ideally combining tax law with transactional/contracts work, ideally in a law firm, family office, or private investment setting.
  • Substantive experience with REITs, commercial real estate transactions, and complex property ownership structures.
  • Demonstrated experience with M&A and private investment transactions.
  • Working knowledge of trusts, estates, and wealth transfer planning concepts.
  • Excellent contract drafting and negotiation skills.
  • Ability to work directly and discreetly with high-net-worth principals and family members, with sound judgment and unquestioned integrity.
  • Strong communication skills and the ability to translate complex tax and legal concepts for non-legal stakeholders.
  • Highly organized, self-directed, and comfortable operating as a hands-on in-house counsel in a lean team environment.
Location & Work Model
  • Beverly Hills, California
  • On-site
Compensation
  • Base salary: $225,000 - $265,000
  • Bonus: Discretionary annual bonus


Interested?

This search is being conducted with a high degree of discretion.

If this role aligns with your background-or you know a product leader you deeply respect who fits this profile-we welcome a confidential conversation.

This search is being conducted with a high degree of discretion.

Base Compensation Range

$225,000-$265,000 USD

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