Editorial|&utm_term=|Website-Editorial-NAT(Website)|">Auction.com has promoted Lee Leslie to the position of EVP and chief legal officer. Leslie has served as the firm's interim general counsel for four months and will oversee all legal, regulatory, intellectual property, corporate transactional and governance matters for the online marketplace.

Leslie has more than 20 years of legal and real estate experience. At the firm, he works closely with CEO and co-founder Jeff Frieden here in Irvine.

According to Frieden, “Lee has been a terrific addition to the Auction.com executive team. His legal expertise, combined with his years of experience in launching and growing real estate and lending companies, has already proved invaluable in our ongoing efforts to expand the nation's top online real estate marketplace.”

Before joining Auction.com in 2014, Leslie was the founder and CEO of online real estate services firm HouseTech Real Estate, which is now a subsidiary of Auction.com. He also served as chief legal officer at LendingTree Loans and LowerMyBills.com.

“I am excited to be part of Auction.com during such an important time in this company's growth and our industry's evolution toward a new way of transacting real estate,” says Leslie. “These past few months have given me powerful insight into the way Auction.com brings speed, transparency and fairness to the way real estate is bought and sold.”

Transparency in real estate transactions has been a major theme and selling point for the online marketplace. As GlobeSt.com reported exclusively last week, the firm's recently appointed hospital group leader Anthony Falor told us, “Auction.com's transparent platform is uniquely suited for transacting assets in the hospitality space—particularly at $15 million and under, which is the sweet spot for hospitality since 65% to 70% of all hotels fall into that category. We understand how harnessing the platform can be a great win for sellers, brokers and buyers. We get terrific feedback from bidders participating in the platform, whether they're in retail, multifamily or another property sector, who are trying to balance their portfolio from a yield perspective. The computer doesn't recognize the advantage of one bidder over another, and this creates a more level playing field—something that we continuously hear from buyers is an advantage.”

Leslie is the most recent addition to the list of executive appointments made by Auction.com lately. In addition to Falor, as we reported earlier this week, EVP Gordon Smith has been tapped to be general manager of the company's commercial real estate division. Smith currently heads Auction Finance, the division that facilitates financing for commercial and residential real estate investors. GlobeSt.com reported on the division's launch in October 2014.