Bethany Griffin
Chicago,IL
Summary
Dynamic Director of Legal Services with a proven track record in managing legal projects, ensuring regulatory compliance, and advancing organizational goals through effective communication and team collaboration.
Overview
8
8
years of professional experience
Work History
Director of Legal Services
First Hospitality LLC
Chicago, Illinois
02.2024 - Current
- Oversaw all aspects of hotel licensing compliance across multiple jurisdictions, ensuring properties maintained current operational, liquor, health, and business licenses for over 100 hotels.
- Developed and maintained a centralized legal license tracking system, reducing renewal lapses and compliance violations by 99%.
- Collaborated with property management and local counsel to secure permits and licenses for hotel openings, renovations, and special events.
- Collaborated with operations, finance, and procurement teams to ensure contracts supported business goals and operational needs.
- Oversaw contract lifecycle management, including renewals, amendments, and termination provisions, ensuring ongoing compliance and business continuity.
- Identified and addressed legal risks, liability exposures, and unfavorable terms in contracts, resulting in reduced disputes and improved contractual protections.
- Reviewed and negotiated insurance policies for general liability, property, cyber liability, and workers' compensation to ensure adequate coverage across all hotel assets.
- Worked with insurance brokers and risk management teams to evaluate coverage needs, reduce premiums, and streamline claims processes.
- Led periodic audits of licensing and insurance documentation across all hotel locations to ensure regulatory readiness, and mitigate legal exposure.
- Acted as a liaison with regulatory agencies during inspections, inquiries, and enforcement actions to protect the company's interests and resolve issues efficiently.
- Provided training to property-level staff on maintaining compliance with licensing and insurance requirements.
- Developed SOPs for license management and insurance documentation to standardize practices across all properties and regions.
Commercial Real Estate Paralegal
Sentral
Henderson, Nevada
01.2022 - 12.2024
- Collaborated with executive leadership to align business objectives with operational goals.
- Facilitated cross-departmental communication to streamline workflows and service delivery.
- Managed electronic filing systems for legal documents and case files.
- Conducted legal research to support corporate governance initiatives.
- Coordinated communication between clients, attorneys, and regulatory agencies.
- Reviewed, analyzed and summarized legal documents to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
- Prepared closing binders for various transactions including filing articles of incorporation and organization or amendments thereto with the appropriate state agencies.
- Conducted due diligence in support of merger and acquisition transactions.
- Drafted pleadings, motions, contracts, agreements and other legal documents as directed by attorneys.
- Performed research on a variety of legal topics such as corporate law, civil litigation and intellectual property.
- Utilized legal software and databases for case management and legal research.
Corporate Paralegal (Contract)
Amazon
Remote
09.2020 - 12.2021
- Entered and maintained high volumes of legal and corporate data into Amazon’s entity management systems (Salesforce, Kessler, etc), with a 99.9% accuracy rate, ensuring real-time updates for hundreds of global subsidiaries.
- Processed and uploaded legal documents, including NDAs, contracts, and governance materials, into centralized databases, ensuring compliance with internal naming conventions and retention policies.
- Audited and verified corporate records across jurisdictions to identify and correct inconsistencies in officer/director data, business licenses, and regulatory filings.
- Performed quality checks on legal data entries to ensure compliance with Amazon’s operational and regulatory standards, escalating discrepancies to supervising attorneys.
- Collaborated remotely with cross-functional teams to gather and input legal and financial data for corporate disclosures, compliance reports, and tax filings.
- Assisted in the digital organization of due diligence materials during M&A transactions, maintaining accuracy and confidentiality across multiple data sets and stakeholders.
- Maintained digital records of contract approvals, execution status, and key legal terms in Amazon’s contract lifecycle management system.
- Conducted periodic clean-up of legacy data and migrated historical legal records into updated systems, improving accessibility and operational efficiency.
- Supported remote legal operations by adhering to strict data handling protocols and contributing to the automation of routine data entry tasks using legal tech tools.
Paralegal
Kohn Law Group
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
09.2017 - 07.2020
- Managed case files and maintained organized documentation systems.
- Researched case law and statutes to support legal arguments.
- Communicated with clients to gather information and provide updates.
- Provided administrative support such as answering phones or scheduling appointments.
- Maintained client files according to established protocols.
- Maintained calendars for upcoming court dates or deadlines related to cases.
- Proofread documents prior to filing them with courts or submitting them to opposing counsels.
- Organized client calendars, prepared mailings and handled high call volumes.
- Interviewed clients and obtained vital case information to support associates.
- Entered data into and managed litigation databases and Excel spreadsheets.
- Created spreadsheets to track case information and deadlines.
- Reduced workflow downtime by effectively organizing and managing client billing and case management files.
- Performed extensive research to prepare for court cases and gathered pertinent case information.
- Knowledgeable dealing with pleadings, affidavits, motions and exhibit preparation.
- Scheduled and coordinated depositions, hearings, trials, and meetings.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Criminology & Political Science
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
WI12-2021
Skills
- Legal research
- Case management
- Regulatory compliance
- Decision making
- Analytical thinking
- Project management
- Effective communication
- Organization and time management
- Microsoft Word
- Flexible and adaptable
- Critical thinking
- Task prioritization
- Organization
- Analytical
- Supervision and leadership
- Computer skills
- Decision-making
- Data entry
- Networking
- Customer service
- Litigation strategy
- License compliance
- Document management
- Client communication
- Corporate governance
- Problem solving
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
Director of Legal Services
First Hospitality LLC
02.2024 - Current
Commercial Real Estate Paralegal
Sentral
01.2022 - 12.2024
Corporate Paralegal (Contract)
Amazon
09.2020 - 12.2021
Paralegal
Kohn Law Group
09.2017 - 07.2020
Bachelor of Science - Criminology & Political Science
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee