Legal Counsel

# LI-DNI

Team Overview: The new Legal Counsel will join LaSalle’s Global Funds Team (GFT) reporting to the Global Funds Counsel. GFT is a sophisticated legal team sitting alongside the global Legal & Compliance team of LaSalle and JLL. This team is highly specialized on fund structuring, fund setup and investor on-boarding.  GFT also supports product development as part of the product development core group. This role is global but based in London. The team currently consists of the Global Funds Counsel, one Legal Counsel and two Paralegals (one based in London and another in Chicago).

Role and Accountabilities: As GFT Legal Counsel, the primary responsibility of this role will be to support the business in all legal aspects of the product development, fund structuring and fundraising lifecycle (including development of the concept and structuring, fund marketing, fund documentation, investor onboardings and closings) for a number of existing and new LaSalle products (commingled funds and tailored cross border separate accounts). At LaSalle, GFT takes the lead for the project management of the fund launch making this an exciting and commercial legal role. The new Legal Counsel will need to establish a close working relationship with stakeholders across the business to become a trusted partner able to contribute to the goals of the business by combining their excellent legal knowledge and project management skills with a commercial approach. Main stakeholders are LaSalle’s Marketing and Investor Relations (IR) teams and various LaSalle fund and portfolio managers around the globe. This position is also expected to work closely and on a daily basis with our regional tax teams, our regional legal and compliance teams, LaSalle’s finance teams and LaSalle’s AIFM in Luxembourg.

Responsibilities:

Deliverables include (but are not limited to):

Product Development Support

• Cooperating with Marketing, IR, the fund teams and Research to develop new fund products (GFT’s focus is on the fund structures and key fund terms).

• Creating or managing the custody of overviews/databanks for fund key terms,IR client feedback and other legal / market know-how which is relevant to the business.Anticipating market developments resulting from changes of laws and regulations, educating the business teams about these changes and developing product ideas based on these changes.

Initial Fund Structuring

• Leading the process to draft and agree a term sheet and structure chart with all relevant parties.

• Setting up the project plan and time schedule for the fund formation.

• Advising the business team regarding the fund structure depending on target investors (based on both investor type and jurisdiction) and type and jurisdiction of the fund target assets together with our regional tax teams, our Global head of tax and external legal and tax counsel.

• Advising the fund teams regarding the selection of SFDR/SFDR2 categorizations and a Lasalle Net Zero Pathway.

• Advising and supporting Marketing and IR with the creation of global marketing products (flyer, pitchbooks, pipeline decks etc.).

• Drafting and reviewing the legal parts of the INREV DDQ and Investor DDQs.

Fund Set up and Fund Launch

• Leading the project management for fund formation and fund launch.

• Leading the preparation of key legal documents (term sheets, PPM, LPA, Subscription documents, etc.) together with external counsel and reviewing while maintaining consistency with LaSalle standard key term and clauses.

• Supporting the set-up of the fund structure with regional legal teams and external service provider, and coordinate/review the constituent documents with external law firms.

• Coordinating the actual fund launch with internal and external parties.

Investor Onboarding

• Leading and organising the negotiations with the investors - side letter negotiations and potential requests for LPA amendments together with external counsel, coordinate all comments and amendments internally with fund team, regional legal and compliance teams, regional tax teams, AIFM, risk department, finance and other relevant teams.

• Coordinating onboarding process with the tax, compliance, and investor services team (via online platform).

• Supporting disclosure documents (preferential treatment) together with external counsel.

• Coordinating “closings” of mandates and funds e.g.., organise/review required resolutions and board meetings on a global basis together with the AIFM team or regional legal teams.

• Coordinating the MFN process together with external counsel and review the MFN Booklet.

Ongoing support of our fund products

• Advising on the application of new legislation and regulations and working with portfolio managers and other LaSalle teams to implement any required changes across the fund documentation, e.g., supporting restructuring of existing funds due to changes of the market or regulatory/tax environment (for example ELTIF 2, LTAF, AIFMD II, sustainability regulatory developments etc.) or reclassification of the SFDR category (Art. 6 to Art. 8 or 9) or the new categories that will be implemented under SFDR2.

• Working with portfolio and fund managers regarding queries in respect of the ongoing operation of LaSalle products, e.g., providing interpretations of fund documents in relation to live transactions (esp. LPA), refinancings and/or investor requests.

• Serving as the internal resource and gatekeeper for certain legal queries and other house standard terms, (e.g. rechargeable fund expenses), providing guidance to fund teams based on LaSalle's precedent language and market practice.

• Assisting on an ad hoc basis with other service provider agreements, such as the negotiating and review of distribution agreements with third-party distributors and placement agents.

Employee Co-Investment Programme and Carried Interest Issuances

• Advising the employee co-investment team in Chicago on the legal and regulatory aspects of LaSalle's employee co-investment programme, including structuring, documentation, and ongoing compliance requirements.

• Managing new offerings under the employee co-investment programme, including the preparation of the necessary offering documents and assisting with onboarding new employees.

• Assisting with periodic transfers, redemptions and subscriptions that arise with respect to existing offerings, including when co-invested employees depart or when co-investment opportunities are offered on a deal-by-deal basis.

• Periodic assistance with the issuance of carried interest or team share points to certain professionals within the firm with respect to certain funds and mandates, including the preparation and execution of documents in relation thereto.

Managing external Law firms (Panel)

Building strong relationships with and managing LaSalle’s panel of outside counsel to ensure timelines and budgets are met and that LaSalle’s precedent documents are utilized, and market best practices are considered in the drafting (global consistency of key terms and fund documents across our global products).

Required Qualifications & Experience:

• Between four - six years’ experience as a funds lawyer in an in-house environment for an investment manager, or within an international law firm (e.g., as senior associate).

• Private equity, credit and/or real estate funds experience required with strong experience for fund structures for equity and debt funds (Luxembourg structures as well as more traditional “offshore” jurisdictions).

• Must be able to demonstrate high familiarity with key fund terms and broader issues relevant to the private equity, credit and/or real estate funds industry.

• Must show strong project management and communication skills.

• Good working knowledge of the regulatory framework relating to investment management, in particular:

• A comprehensive knowledge of the AIFMD framework required, including AIFM operational requirements, the marketing of investment funds (EU passporting and NPPR) and AIFMD II amendments, particularly those concerning loan origination rules and liquidity management tools.

• Good understanding of SFDR (in particular, strong familiarity with differences between Articles 6, 8 and 9 SFDR including related documents as Annex II, Annex IV, PPM sections and Art. 10 Website disclosures) and other global sustainability disclosure regimes is essential. Good understanding of the proposed SFDR2 legislation and anticipated amendments thereunder.

• Working knowledge of U.S. securities laws and regulations applicable to institutional real estate funds, including the Investment Company Act of 1940, Securities Act of 1933, Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Regulation D private placement exemptions. Familiarity with SEC registration and exemption requirements for private funds is desirable.

• An understanding of U.S. and EU retail fund products:

  • US: Including non-traded REITs distributed to accredited investors, and understanding of the related regulatory frameworks (e.g., FINRA rules, state securities laws, and distribution compliance requirements). High-level knowledge of the distinctions between institutional and retail fundraising requirements in the U.S. is expected.

  • EU/UK: Helpful to also have some knowledge of semi-liquid and retail-focused fund products and the associated regulatory developments, reflecting the firm’s strategic growth in this area (e.g. ELTIFs, LTAFs, Luxembourg Part II UCIs, UCITS), as well as an understanding of distribution models involving platforms (e.g. iCapital, Allfunds).

• Good working knowledge of global marketing rules across several jurisdictions (with particular emphasis on licensing, registration and marketing related rules in Europe, Asia, US and the Middle East) to support Marketing and IR with the creation of global marketing materials.

• Excellent collaboration and confident stakeholder management skills, working closely with a wide range of stakeholder groups. Being collaborative with, and inclusive of, both senior and junior colleagues and be able to balance the “legal and compliance” role with the commercial needs of the business.

• Ability to develop and maintain strong professional relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

• Strong drafting skills and must be prepared to get involved with review/preparation of a wide variety of fund documents.

• Ability to assess and analyse complex legal issues leveraging LaSalle’s knowledge management and technology platform and capture, contribute to, and disseminate lessons learned and other best practices in LaSalle’s knowledge management platforms and with LaSalle colleagues.

• Organized, methodical, pro-active and able to work independently. Prepared to work on multiple LaSalle products in different jurisdictions and time zones for demanding internal clients.

• Demonstrated strategic and innovative thinking skills with the ability to see the big picture, while also being able to drive projects from development to completion.

• Strong desire to learn and develop.

• Must be proficient in Microsoft Office applications and Openness to IT solutions.

• Proficiency in leveraging AI tools and technology solutions to enhance legal workflows, improve efficiency, and introduce creative process improvements. Demonstrated ability to understand and implement AI-driven solutions for document review, knowledge management, and legal research is highly valued.Periodic travel as necessary

LaSalle is an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourages applications from all sections of the community.

US Jobs Only: This position does not provide visa sponsorship. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship.

Location:

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