RENEE B. WEISS
Cleveland,OH
Summary
Chief Legal and Compliance Officer with 25+ years of experience leading legal, risk, and regulatory compliance for complex real estate and operating platforms. Proven track record of reducing legal exposure, optimizing operations, and guiding executive leadership through high-stakes litigation, transactions, and regulatory challenges. Trusted advisor to C-suite with deep expertise in multi-family housing, retail real estate, hospitality and governance.
Overview
28
28
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Chief Legal and Compliance Officer
Millennia Housing Management, Ltd.
Cleveland, OH
06.2025 - Current
- Promoted through five roles to Chief Legal & Compliance Officer, reflecting sustained executive impact, enterprise leadership and trusted partnership with management.
- Lead enterprise-wide legal, compliance, litigation, governance, and risk management functions for a complex, multi-state real estate and operating platform spanning affordable and market rate housing, office, hospitality and related business operations.
- Serve as a strategic advisor to executive leadership on high-risk legal, regulatory, operational, and reputational matters, including government investigations, civil proceedings, crisis management, and enterprise risk mitigation.
- Directed legal strategy for the disposition of a significant multi-family property portfolio, overseeing due diligence, regulatory issues, and risk mitigation.
- Built and formalized enterprise legal and operational infrastructure, including development of corporate policies, procedures, and the organization’s first vendor code of conduct.
- Spearheaded litigation and dispute resolution strategy, reducing enterprise exposure through case assessment, outside counsel management, coordinated defense strategies, and risk-based settlement analysis.
- Oversee contract strategy and negotiations across a broad range of commercial matters, including real estate transactions, commercial and lease advising, construction, and vendor contracts.
- Lead risk management initiatives, in coordination with insurers, claims counsel, and executive leadership to mitigate financial, operational, and reputational risk.
- Guide the organization through complex multi-jurisdictional regulatory frameworks in affordable housing, partnering cross-functionally with compliance, property management, and operations teams.
- Played a key leadership role in crisis management, corporate communications, and operational continuity planning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Led the legal and operational launch of Savour Hospitality, supporting the organization’s strategic expansion into hospitality management operations for the Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Tower.
- Manage outside counsel strategy, legal spend, and litigation oversight across a diverse portfolio of operational, regulatory, employment, transactional, and real estate matters.
Associate General Counsel – Litigation & Operations
DDR Corp. (nka Site Centers)
Cleveland, OH
03.2017 - 04.2018
- Advanced through multiple legal leadership roles over 14 years, culminating in Associate General Counsel with responsibility for litigation and bankruptcy strategy, enterprise risk management, and operational legal oversight for a national retail real estate portfolio.
- Led the landlord-tenant and operational legal functions, managing and mentoring attorneys and paralegals while driving pragmatic, business-aligned legal outcomes across a multi-state platform.
- Directed litigation strategy and dispute resolution matters, overseeing complex commercial litigation, outside counsel management, litigation budgets, and risk-based resolution strategies while substantially reducing legal spend.
- Reduced outstanding receivables from $120M to $20M through implementation of strategic legal, operational, and credit-risk initiatives in partnership with accounting, leasing, and operations leadership.
- Served as a trusted legal advisor to executive leadership and cross-functional business teams, including leasing, construction, accounting, asset management, and operations, on contract strategy, and risk mitigation.
- Played a leadership role in retail bankruptcy and restructuring matters, representing the company on unsecured creditors’ committees in high-profile national retailer bankruptcies, including HHGregg, Gordmans, Gander Mountain, and Hancock Fabrics.
- Supported acquisitions, dispositions, financings, and portfolio transitions through legal due diligence, contract analysis, and risk assessment.
- Revamped lease credit review policies and operational processes, strengthening tenant quality, reducing portfolio risk, and improving long-term asset performance.
- Implemented standardized legal and operational procedures across business units to improve governance, consistency, efficiency, and risk management practices.
- Created and led the associate attorney and law clerk development program, mentoring emerging legal talent and supporting succession planning initiatives.
- Drafted and standardized key legal documentation, including leases, vendor agreements, operational forms, and litigation materials, improving internal efficiency and reducing outside counsel reliance.
- Selected to serve on the Executive Committee.
Associate Attorney
Associate Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP (fka Kelley, McCann & Livingstone LLP)
Cleveland, OH
01.1998 - 07.2004
- Managed employment and general litigation matters in state and federal court, serving in first- and second-chair roles.
- Led depositions, hearings, and trial preparation, and drafted pleadings, discovery, briefs, and legal memoranda.
- Developed litigation strategies and conducted comprehensive legal research across a range of employment and commercial matters.
Attorney
Baker & Hostetler, LLP
Cleveland, Ohio
Judicial Law Clerk
Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, Division of Domestic Relations
Education
Juris Doctor -
Cleveland State University College of Law
Cleveland, OhioBachelor of Arts - Political Science
Miami University
Oxford, OhioSkills
- Leadership and Team Management
- Real Estate Acquisitions and Dispositions
- Litigation and Bankruptcy Management and Strategy
- Risk Management and Insurance Oversight
- Contract Drafting and Review
- Regulatory Compliance
- Dispute Resolution (Mediation/Arbitration)
- Operational Efficiency Enhancement
- Executive Partnership
- Multi-Entity Oversight
Accomplishments
- Recipient of the 2021 Smart Women Award.
- Graduate of the YWCA’s Momentum Program, a year-long course to develop and strengthen management skills.
Certification
Licensed to practice law in the State of Ohio
COMMUNITY SERVICE
Co-chair of the 2019 and 2021 Benefit Committee for Hanna Perkins Center for Child Development in Shaker Heights, Ohio, raising over $500,000.00 for the organization. Previous member of the benefit committee for the Hanna Perkins., Chair of DDR’s United Way Campaign., Past volunteer for Junior Achievement of Greater Cleveland., Volunteer for Mayor David Weiss’s (unrelated) 2018 and 2019 mayoral campaign for the City of Shaker Heights.
Timeline
Chief Legal and Compliance Officer
Millennia Housing Management, Ltd.
06.2025 - Current
Associate General Counsel – Litigation & Operations
DDR Corp. (nka Site Centers)
03.2017 - 04.2018
Associate Attorney
Associate Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP (fka Kelley, McCann & Livingstone LLP)
01.1998 - 07.2004
Attorney
Baker & Hostetler, LLP
Judicial Law Clerk
Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, Division of Domestic Relations
Bachelor of Arts - Political Science
Miami University
Juris Doctor -
Cleveland State University College of Law