Corporate Counsel

Position Description: POSITION SUMMARY

The Corporate Counsel is responsible for providing legal leadership, risk management, regulatory guidance, and strategic business support across Mountain West Holdings and affiliated companies. Reporting to the President, this role serves as the company’s primary legal advisor and oversees corporate legal affairs, contracts, governance, compliance, employment law matters, litigation management, real estate transactions, and strategic initiatives. The position is intended to develop toward a future General Counsel role as the individual demonstrates enterprise-level judgment, leadership capacity, and the ability to guide legal strategy across the organization.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Corporate Legal Affairs

• Serve as primary legal advisor to executive leadership, providing practical counsel on business decisions, strategic initiatives, risk exposure, corporate obligations, and operational priorities.

• Advise leadership and department heads on legal implications related to operations, finance, servicing, sales, technology, compliance, employment matters, vendor relationships, and enterprise-wide initiatives.

• Oversee corporate entity management, governance practices, board and ownership documentation, operating agreements, resolutions, authority matrices, and related corporate records.

• Identify, monitor, and communicate legal and regulatory obligations affecting the organization, and recommend proactive measures to reduce exposure and support compliant business execution.

Contract Management & Commercial Transactions

• Draft, review, negotiate, and manage a broad range of agreements, including vendor contracts, customer agreements, service agreements, confidentiality agreements, financing documents, real estate agreements, purchase and sale documents, and other commercial arrangements.

• Develop and maintain contract templates, negotiation standards, approval workflows, signature authority guidelines, renewal tracking practices, and documentation procedures.

• Assess contractual risk, business obligations, indemnity provisions, default rights, insurance requirements, confidentiality obligations, and dispute resolution terms to support informed decision-making.

Corporate Governance & Strategic Transactions

• Support acquisitions, dispositions, financings, strategic investments, joint ventures, restructurings, affiliate arrangements, and other corporate transactions from initial review through closing and post-closing obligations.

• Conduct and coordinate legal due diligence, including review of contracts, corporate records, licenses, regulatory matters, litigation exposure, employment issues, real estate interests, and material business risks.

• Prepare, organize, and maintain governance documentation, transaction records, resolutions, consents, entity filings, ownership records, and materials needed to support audits, financing requests, and strategic transactions.

Employment Law & Human Resources Support

• Advise on employment practices, workplace policies, employee relations matters, wage and hour considerations, accommodations, disciplinary actions, terminations, restrictive covenants, and other human resources issues.

• Review and develop employment agreements, offer letters, severance agreements, handbooks, policy updates, confidentiality obligations, compliance training materials, and HR-related communications.

• Support internal investigations, claims response, documentation practices, dispute resolution, agency inquiries, and coordination with outside employment counsel when appropriate.

Real Estate & Asset Transactions

• Support real estate acquisitions, sales, leasing, financing, development, asset management, title review, easements, access matters, diligence requests, closing deliverables, and post-closing obligations.

• Coordinate with internal teams, brokers, lenders, title companies, surveyors, municipalities, counterparties, and outside counsel to resolve transaction issues and support timely execution of real estate matters.

Litigation Management

• Manage claims, disputes, litigation, threatened litigation, demand letters, regulatory inquiries, administrative proceedings, settlement discussions, and outside counsel relationships.

• Develop litigation strategy with outside counsel, monitor budgets and case status, preserve relevant records, coordinate discovery responses, evaluate settlement opportunities, and keep executive leadership informed of material risks.

Governance & Cross-Functional Leadership

• Facilitate alignment among operational, financial, sales, servicing, compliance, technology, human resources, accounting, asset management, and support teams to ensure legal considerations are integrated into execution planning.

• Ensure initiatives and data streams have clearly defined ownership, accountability, reporting standards, decision rights, approval paths, documentation expectations, and measurable outcomes.

• Promote consistency in project management, data governance, communication standards, contract administration, compliance documentation, policy implementation, and execution practices across the organization.

• Escalate significant operational, contractual, regulatory, litigation, employment, or governance risks to executive leadership with clear analysis, practical recommendations, and proposed next steps.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

Education: Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited law school

Licensure: Active license and good standing with a state bar association – Must have Utah license, other states a plus

Experience: 7+ years of legal experience with emphasis in corporate, commercial, employment, real estate, transactional, or business law

Skills & Competencies:

• Exceptional intelligence, judgment, and analytical ability, with a strong legal background as the most important qualifications for success in this role

• Strong contract drafting and negotiation skills

• Sound business judgment and risk assessment capabilities

• Corporate governance and regulatory compliance expertise

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Ability to translate complex legal issues into practical business solutions

• Strong organizational and project management capabilities

• Microsoft Office 365 proficiency

Growth Path: This role is expected to progress toward General Counsel as the individual builds trust with executive leadership, demonstrates superior intelligence and legal judgment, and assumes broader responsibility for legal strategy, governance, and enterprise risk management.