Hi, I'm Kelly Allen.
I'm a legal governance & compliance professional based in Seattle.
About Me
I am a driven and accomplished legal operations professional with extensive experience as an entity governance and compliance director, corporate paralegal, and contracts manager. Skilled in regulatory compliance, corporate governance, and vendor account management within a Fortune 300 building materials and construction company. Proficient in reviewing and negotiating contracts, as well as assisting attorneys with partner relationships. Committed to fostering a culture of integrity and accountability while driving efficiency and providing legal operations guidance and support.
My Background
Starting out as a young professional, I never planned on pursuing a career path in legal operations and entity compliance. However, it has become a passion that I truly excel at, providing my clients, employers, and myself with pride and satisfaction.
I obtained my bachelor's degrees in Communications and Comparative Literature while attending the University of Washington in my hometown of Seattle. I put myself through college working as a medical administrator. Life took me to Denver, CO, a few years after college, where I happened upon my new career as a legal operations professional.
My journey started as an executive assistant to the in-house legal department at one of the largest organizations in the building materials industry. Here, I had the privilege of working with an exceptional team of attorneys and mentors, learning everything I could from them during a truly exciting time in the industry. Through this experience, I gained invaluable skills in entity compliance and governance, corporate paralegal services, contract negotiation, team management, and above all else, top-notch customer service. I grew to become the Director of Legal Compliance for a $17 billion dollar, Fortune 300 building materials company.
In 2022, I moved back home to Seattle to be with family and help run the family real estate business. I opened my consulting company, Kelly Hill Allen Consulting, where I enjoy lending my expertise in compliance and governance to a diverse clientele.
Education
- University of Washington - Seattle, WA 2006-2010 Double Major: Communications & Comparative Literature Minor: American Indian Studies
- Adams State University- Alamosa, CO 2015 Double Major: Communications & Comparative Literature Minor: American Indian Studies
Experience
2022 - Present
Kelly Hill Allen Consulting, LLC Legal Operations Consultant
• Advise new and small business clients on navigating complex regulatory requirements to ensure compliance with all relevant laws and regulations, specializing in the building materials and construction industry. • Provide clients with expert entity management services including federal, state, and local business and contractor licensing, annual reporting, transportation-related registrations, and occupational tax filings. • Conduct thorough research and analysis to stay up-to-date on changing regulations and requirements, providing clients with accurate and timely information to support their business operations.2022 - Present
Challenj Properties, LLC Legal Operations Manager & Property Manager
• Supervise daily operations of multiple residential properties, overseeing budgeting, regulatory compliance, leasing, and maintenance activities to enhance tenant satisfaction and boost profitability. • Conduct regular property inspections and coordinate essential repairs and renovations to maintain property value and enhance curb appeal. • Manage project activities for significant property renovations, facilitating communication between tenants, insurance providers, remediation crews, and contractors.Feb 2013 - May 2022
Builders FirstSource, Inc. Director of Legal Compliance 2019-2022 Paralegal & Sr. Executive Assistant 2013-2022
• Responsible for managing over 2,000 business and contractor licenses, occupational tax filings, and annual reports across 40+ states, encompassing 30+ legal entities and 500 nationwide locations. • Oversaw complex regulatory filings, safeguarding confidential corporate and personal information for C-suite executives.
• Successfully led compliance efforts for multiple mergers and acquisitions, including due diligence, licensing, and registration for new entities.
• Managed large-scale legal compliance projects, such as post-M&A entity restructuring and the transition of 1,000+ federal, state, and local regulatory filings from 400+ locations to centralized corporate oversight.
• Collaborated with Deputy General Counsel to execute a comprehensive overhaul of the company-wide customer contract review process. This initiative mandated that all customer contracts be centralized and negotiated by a newly established legal contract review team, significantly improving the organization's Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
• Under the supervision of the Deputy General Counsel, performed end-to-end review and negotiation of hundreds of contracts annually, ranging from small to multi-million-dollar agreements.
• Managed a diverse portfolio of contracts, including NDAs, service, customer, subcontractor, purchase, employment, transportation, software, and vendor agreements.
• Oversaw comprehensive vendor management, including monitoring risk insurance compliance, bond management, invoice and payment processing, as well as ensuring legal and regulatory adherence.
• Developed and maintained the organization's legal resource intranet and two databases for licensing and contractual management, optimizing workflows and accessibility.
• Recruited, trained, and supervised a team of contract managers, paralegals and administrative assistants.
• Provided training and support to in-house attorneys on contract interpretation and negotiation.
• Conducted company-wide training on licensing, financial reporting, government regulations, vendor management, and contract review processes, fostering collaboration and synergy with internal stakeholders.
• Supported complex litigation matters, including construction defect, asbestos, personal injury, employment, and insurance cases.
• Managed legal and real estate invoice processing, ensuring accuracy, timely payments, and detailed recordkeeping.
• Provided executive assistance to the Senior Vice President and General Counsel including project management, internal and external communications, managing correspondence, event management, meeting coordination and travel arrangements.