In 1992 the Company made the decision to increase overall efficiency of all legal aspects of its business by bringing substantially all of its real estate legal work in-house. Much of the efficiency gain was created by in-house staff having inherent knowledge of all aspects of the Company, thus eliminating the downtime related to "getting up to speed" with various parts of the Company that was continually needed when an individual outside law firm worked through an assignment.
In 1998, R. Bruce Balderson, Jr. joined the Company from a major Philadelphia law firm. Mr. Balderson holds the positions of Senior Vice President and General Counsel, where he oversees all legal aspects of the Company's activities.
The Company continues to retain outside law firms for assistance and depth in real estate transactions, in certain lease negotiations, and in specialized areas of law (for instance, tax structuring).
The in-house legal department provides an unparalleled level of expertise and responsiveness to the Company's rapidly changing needs.
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