A little over a week ago, I wrapped up my summer with
Turnberry’s legal department as a Real Estate and Corporate Transactions Intern. I am incredibly grateful to my supervisor,
Zachary Sculler, Esq., for trusting me with meaningful work, bringing me into important conversations, and always taking the time to explain both the legal and business considerations behind what we were working on. I also want to thank General Counsel
Mario Romine, Esq., for the opportunity to be part of the legal department and for his leadership and guidance throughout the summer. Finally, I want to thank
Heather Cleary, Senior Manager of Talent Acquisition, for putting together an incredible internship program and creating so many opportunities for our intern class to learn about Turnberry beyond our individual departments.
Among many projects and experiences throughout the summer, a few highlights included:
• Reviewing and redlining vendor agreements, work orders, continuing service agreements, ground leases, and other real estate and corporate documents.
• Researching issues involving zoning, land use, annexation, easements, indemnification, title and property encumbrances, record retention, and state statutory contract law differences.
• Attending city commission meetings, zoning and development discussions, and meetings with business partners.
• Helping develop a standardized contract management workflow across Turnberry’s properties. This included developing uniform contract templates, building a centralized database of key property information, coordinating with property managers across the portfolio, and reviewing vendor certificates of insurance.
Some of the most rewarding moments of the summer were seeing that work come to life. I paid the taxes for and recorded the condominium declaration for ONE Park Tower by Turnberry, a 33-story luxury condominium development, and later had the opportunity to visit the property. I had a similar experience at the Grand Hyatt Miami Beach Convention Center, where, towards the end of the summer, I attended its topping-off ceremony and saw another major Turnberry development firsthand.
Thank you to everyone at Turnberry who welcomed me and made this such a valuable summer. I am excited to take everything I learned with me as I begin my 2L year at St. Thomas University College of Law.