Global Head of Litigation

LyondellBasell North America•Houston, TX

5d•Onsite

About The Position

The Global Head of Litigation will lead the company’s global litigation and arbitration docket, within Company and Department guidelines, policies, and procedures. This attorney will have enterprise-wide responsibility for the strategy, management, and resolution of significant existing and potential legal disputes, i.e., those matters that have not yet resulted in formal legal action and those pending in courts, arbitral tribunals, regulatory proceedings, or other dispute forums. This attorney will work closely with legal leadership, regional and business legal teams, senior management, and other stakeholders across the company, and is expected to provide strategic leadership, rigorous legal and factual analysis, and consistent global oversight of litigation risk. The position is expected to lead globally, contribute individually where appropriate and through outside counsel, build and guide a high-performing litigation function, communicate effectively in a driven, high-achieving environment, and advise senior management on litigation strategy, risk, exposure, and resolution options. The position is based in Houston and will report to the Deputy General Counsel.

Requirements

Qualified lawyer with significant litigation, arbitration, and dispute-resolution experience, including substantial in-house experience
15+ years of post-qualification experience in a major law firm or corporation, with demonstrated experience leading significant litigation or arbitration matters
Experience managing disputes across multiple jurisdictions
Strong leadership, management, coaching, communication, and executive-advisory skills

Nice To Haves

Cross-border litigation and international arbitration experience preferred
Experience in the chemical, energy or engineering industry is preferred

Responsibilities

Lead global litigation strategy and oversight for the company’s litigation and arbitration docket, including handling the highest profile cases and resolving disputes across regions, businesses, functions, and legal jurisdictions.
Analyze complex factual, legal, commercial, technical, and strategic issues in disputes globally, including working with business leaders, technical teams, company executives, and regional legal teams to assess complexity, value, exposure, and options for resolution or continued litigation.
Prepare and present clear litigation analyses, reports, and recommendations to the Deputy General Counsel and/or General Counsel, senior executives, legal leadership, and other senior leaders, including assessments of risk, exposure, strategy, budgets, and settlement authority.
Coordinate with regional and business legal leaders to identify global litigation trends—especially those applicable to our business—, recurring risks, common needs, and opportunities to improve dispute prevention, early resolution, and litigation readiness.
Retain, manage, and collaborate closely with outside counsel globally to drive case strategy, review court and arbitration submissions, manage legal spend, ensure quality and consistency, and identify legal trends and risks to the company.
Develop and implement global litigation governance, mitigation strategies, matter-management practices, reporting protocols, and consistent implementation of company policies and practices, including those relating to litigation, arbitration, investigations, appeals, document preservation, and dispute resolution.
Serve as the primary global litigation resource for legal and business teams by providing strategic legal advice on pre-dispute matters, active disputes, threatened claims, significant investigations, enforcement matters, and cross-border litigation risk.
Work closely with legal leadership and regional legal teams to deliver first-class, proactive, practical, and globally consistent litigation advice to internal business clients.
Lead, coach, and develop litigation attorneys and other staff members where applicable, and act as a senior global resource for colleagues on complex litigation, dispute resolution, risk management, and legal strategy.