In-House Housing Counsel (Unlawful Detainer Focus)

Arboreal Management LLC
Location: Washington or Oregon State (Remote / Hybrid OK)
Type: Full-time
Salary: $105,000–$120,000 base, depending on experience
Licensure: Active Washington license required; Oregon license a plus

About Arboreal Management

Arboreal Management is a Seattle-based property management company managing several thousand residential units across Washington and Oregon, with a focus on workforce and affordable housing. We are operationally sophisticated, process-driven, and committed to compliant, fair, and efficient housing operations.

We play an important role in proiding quality property management services for affordable housing, and are growing 20-30% per year.

We have brought the majority of our unlawful detainer and tenant-law work fully in-house and are hiring a full-time attorney to own and scale and lead this function.

The Role

This is a litigation-heavy, operations-oriented role focused primarily on unlawful detainer matters, with additional responsibility for advising on tenant-law issues and supervising offshore legal and paralegal staff. The attorney will work closely with operations, leasing, and leadership to ensure cases move quickly, correctly, and consistently.

Approximately 80% of this role is unlawful detainer work, with the remaining time spent on tenant-law advice, compliance questions, and process oversight.

Key Responsibilities

• Handle Washington unlawful detainer matters end-to-end, from notice strategy through writ

• Draft and review predicate notices, pleadings, motions, and declarations

• Appear in court for hearings and trials as required (remote and in-person)

• Advise operations teams on eviction risk, notice strategy, and timing

• Supervise one or more full-time paralegals based in the Philippines

• Review paralegal work product for accuracy, completeness, and compliance

• Develop and maintain standardized templates, workflows, and SOPs

• Advise on tenant-law issues, including disputes, lease interpretation, and reasonable accommodation questions

• Provide high-level guidance on affordable and regulated housing compliance issues and identify matters requiring escalation to outside counsel

• Coordinate with outside counsel as needed for overflow or specialized matters

Qualifications

• JD from an accredited law school

• Active Washington State Bar license in good standing

• 2+ years of experience in unlawful detainer, landlord-tenant, or housing litigation

• Strong familiarity with Washington eviction procedures and court rules

• Comfortable managing a high-volume, repeatable litigation workflow

• Experience supervising paralegals or legal support staff (or willingness to do so)

• Practical, operations-oriented mindset

• Strong writing, organization, and case-management skills

• Willingness to travel periodically for court appearances

Nice to Have

• Oregon bar admission strong plus, with ability to travel to Portland, OR for in-person hearings (most WA hearings are remote)

• Experience representing housing providers or property managers

• Exposure to affordable or regulated housing environments

• Comfort working with remote or offshore support teams

• Interest in building scalable legal processes

Compensation & Growth

• $105,000–$120,000 base salary

• Full-time, stable in-house role with no billable hour requirements

• Opportunity to grow responsibility, scope, and compensation as the function scales

• Direct access to leadership and real operational impact