Corporate Lawyer II

Zurich Insurance Group•Schaumburg, IL

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

Zurich North America is hiring an experienced litigation attorney to join our Legal team. This role will manage complex litigation and arbitration matters from inception through resolution. The attorney will be responsible for developing case strategy, managing outside counsel, assessing legal and business risk, controlling litigation spend, and keeping internal stakeholders informed of material developments, strategic options, exposure, and recommended next steps.

Requirements

Juris Doctor and 7 or more years of experience in the Legal area
Member of the Bar
Knowledge of NILS, Lexis or Westlaw

Nice To Haves

Insurance Industry experience
Strong organizational and analytical skills
Excellent communication skills

Responsibilities

Manage a portfolio of complex business, commercial, and bad faith litigation, arbitration, threatened litigation, and pre-litigation disputes involving significant financial, regulatory, reputational, operational, or business risk.
Develop and execute litigation strategy, including early case assessment, risk analysis, discovery strategy, motion practice, settlement posture, trial preparation, appeal considerations, and resolution planning.
Select, retain, supervise, and evaluate outside counsel; ensure counsel performance aligns with matter strategy, budgets, reporting expectations, and company objectives.
Provide practical, business-oriented legal advice to internal stakeholders and senior leaders regarding litigation risk, exposure, likely outcomes, settlement opportunities, and strategic alternatives.
Keep stakeholders advised through clear, timely, and concise communications, including matter updates, risk assessments, escalation notices, executive briefings, and recommendations for decision-making.
Oversee discovery, document preservation and collection, legal holds, witness preparation, subpoenas, expert engagement, mediation, arbitration, and trial-related activities.
Identify and escalate matters involving significant exposure, recurring fact patterns, systemic issues, reputational risk, regulatory implications, senior management involvement, or sensitive stakeholder concerns.
Effectively manage litigation budgets, and legal spend, and drive cost-effective resolution of disputes while maintaining appropriate defense quality.
Prepare and maintain accurate matter reporting, including exposure analysis, status updates, reserves or financial inputs where applicable, and reports required for internal governance or external disclosure processes.
Support continuous improvement by developing litigation management practices, templates, guidance, training, and lessons learned from significant matters.
Supervise and mentor paralegal staff as necessary.