Larry Smith Email & Phone Number

San Francisco, Ca, Us

California, United States

Chief Legal Officer - real estate and hotel development company. Advise and negotiate various capital stack financing/debt vehicles, land acquisition financing, JV partnership/development agreements, hotel-branded licenses, construction/supplier contracts, investor relations, corporate/partnership formation. Work directly with regional government officials and city council members and staff in regulation compliance and pushing project progress. Negotiate real estate leases/related documents, consult and manage various real estate disputes. Major projects include development of ground-up, $160M Southern California Hilton branded hotel.

Strategically leading the operations of "The Landing", a robust $4 Million Performing Arts and Cultural Center in Santa Cruz County (Scotts Valley). Establishing and managing budgets, government and public relations, marketing, employment, the calendar of events, social media outreach and communication, facility improvement and maintenance, fundraising and grants, and board management. Prior to opening what would be rebranded as "The Landing", brought on board in 2017 - and then promoted as Board Chair - to help turn what had become a failed relationship with the City. From there, led a challenging 5-year development and construction period through political and community dynamics, public administration officials and offices, government regulations, contractor hiring, continuing fundraising, and the building process. Presented multiple power-point presentations in numerous and packed City-council meetings. By the end of 2019, the fledgling hope of a performing arts and cultural center turned a corner and became the darling of the city - culminating with enthusiastic and unanimous City council approval (October 2019), followed by the successful construction, completion, and commencement of operations of the Performing Arts and Cultural Center (Grand Opening, October 2022, rebranding to The Landing, scheduled April 2024).

Negotiate retail store leases, manage various projects for Fish Six Restaurants, LLC (The Melt). Created and negotiated a company-wide retail store optimization and major rent reduction programs for West Marine, LLC. Estate planning consulting and advise clients regarding civil litigation, IRS tax audits, and tax court trials and appeals.

Executive Legal and Real Estate officer of a $3.6 Billion, NYSE publicly-traded, market dominant retailer, operating 1,800 stores under multiple trade names (Men’s Wearhouse, Jos. A. Bank, Moore’s (Canada), K&G, etc.) and more than 27,000 employees. Trusted advisor/participant during the company’s pivotal time in its efforts to enhance the store and real estate performance and efficiencies in its market dominating brands (Men’s Wearhouse, Moore’s, K&G and Twin Hill (corporate apparel)) and in the turn-around of its newly acquired, struggling billion-dollar division (Jos. A. Bank), real estate concentration.Collaborate on variety of retail operational and real estate matters with executives and divisional partners in finance, operations, digital/e-commerce, store ops, I.T., H.R., internt’l sourcing, finance, tax and merchandise. At critical time of need, also appointed to co-manage the Real Estate Department. Manage staff of attorneys, paralegals and administrative personnel. Achieved all divisional and budget goals.

Los Angeles, California, Us

Chief Legal Officer, Lead Real Estate Officer and key partner to the Board of Directors, CEO, CFO and executive and divisional partners, directing and supporting the company's legal, international business development and real estate priorities. Manage both the Legal and Real Estate Departments (including a staff of lawyers, paralegals, real estate and other professionals) with a prominent role in international business development. Areas of expertise: business development/strategy, international product and store licensing, real estate management, litigation management (employment, patent, class-action), corporate structure, formation and tax, corporate governance and compliance, Board support, SEC filings and communication, mergers and acquisitions, company finance, e-commerce and social media guidance, marketing and direct-to-client communication support, intellectual property protection and maintenance (patent, copyright and trademark), contracts and vendor/supply-chain maintenance.Direct all legal activities, including litigation management, employee relations, policy drafting and implementation, corporate governance, board support, intellectual property, corporate tax and formation, contract and license drafting and dispute resolution.Manage the real estate for more than 250 US and Canadian stores, including managing major Landlord relationships, locating expansion opportunities/driving store count growth, analyzing store performance and recommending actions to optimize store and portfolio profitability, managing renewals, early kick-outs and negotiating all leases and associated documents.International business development, travel, analyze sales and market conditions and advise regarding expansion opportunities. Negotiate/draft international store and product licenses, joint venture and other partnerships and take lead managing and negotiating disputes/resolutions. Direct and manage the international intellectual property portfolio.

Irvine, Ca, Us

Chief Legal Officer of $700M NASDAQ company (WTSLA), with 650 stores and 7,500 employees. Reported to CEO, CAO & Board. Implemented company initiatives. Created and developed legal department from scratch, reducing 1st year legal costs by $300,000. Led all legal operations. Met legal budgets each year, managed outside law firms, and maintained corporate books and records.

Los Angeles, California, Us

Executive Legal Officer of $250M quickly growing, privately held company. Reported to the CEO. Created and developed legal department from scratch, significantly reducing legal costs first year. Led strategic acquisition of competitor Francine Browner, Inc. Directed all legal operations, including M&A, international licensing, litigation, contracts, IP, trademarks/copyrights, real estate & store leases/acquisitions, employment, and corp. governance.

Associate litigation attorney, defending physicians, medical providers, and insurance companies. Managed hundreds of silicon breast implant cases. 2nd trail chair, depositions, discovery, motion practice, court appearances.

B.A., Political Science, Business

Juris Doctor, Law

Certificate, General Business Management And Administration