Counsel – Settlement Team

Barnes & Thornburg LLP • Fort Wayne, IN

17h • Onsite

About The Position

We are seeking a highly qualified Counsel attorney to work with firm Partners as part of the firm’s product liability and mass torts resolution team. This attorney will be responsible for leading and managing all aspects of complex product liability, toxic tort, and mass tort settlements from initial negotiations through final claim resolution and program closure. The ideal candidate possesses extensive experience negotiating and implementing large-scale settlements involving thousands of claimants and has a deep understanding of contract drafting principles, claims administration, settlement allocation methodologies, lien resolution, data management, reporting obligations and compliance issues, and settlement fund governance.

Requirements

• Juris Doctor (JD) degree from an accredited law school.
• Candidate must be active and in good standing with the local state Bar, or be eligible to waive in.
• Minimum of 8 years of significant and substantive experience practicing law, with a focus on mass torts in the drug, medical device and/or consumer products area(s), including at least three years of litigation practice at a law firm.
• Claims resolution experience, preferably with a focus on pharmaceutical products, medical devices, or consumer health or consumer-facing products.
• Detail-oriented with ability to simultaneously manage multiple teams and work streams.
• Experience drafting, reviewing and/or directly negotiating settlement documents, and a deep understanding of contracting principles generally.
• Strong problem-solving, project management, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• The ideal candidate will also be highly motivated to be part of an active settlement practice, demonstrate initiative, an ability to assume responsibility for client matters, as well as the interpersonal skills to work well as part of a large, collaborative team.

Nice To Haves

• Familiarity with matter management systems (e.g., Case Manager Pro), claims administration platforms, and AI-enabled claim review platforms preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead and support settlement negotiations in complex product liability, mass tort, toxic tort, and consumer product litigation matters.
• Help develop settlement structures and eligibility criteria.
• Serve as primary legal and operations lead, ensuring settlements are executed efficiently, accurately, and in accordance with all legal requirements.
• Work directly with plaintiffs’ counsel to negotiate, draft, review, and finalize all settlement-related documents, and to resolve any claimant disputes or appeals.
• Manage teams of nurse paralegals and other attorneys to review and assess the qualification and categorization of incoming claims.
• Perform data analysis across claims, such as monitoring values and identifying trends within a tort (e.g., for individual firms and claim groups) and across a settlement.
• Oversee all aspects of settlement implementation and claims administration, including workflow and quality assurance.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree