Lead Counsel, Controversies

Ford Motor • Dearborn, MI

13d • Hybrid

About The Position

As a global leader in advanced mobility solutions, our outstanding team of legal professionals helps us navigate the continually changing legal and regulatory landscape. In our Office of General Counsel, you’ll be part of an organization that collaborates with outside counsel to operate as a global team and deliver world-class legal, tax and audit services to client groups throughout the company. In this position, Ford Motor Company’s Office of the General Counsel is seeking an outstanding attorney to join our Consumer Litigation Team in the Controversies Practice Group. A successful candidate for this position will demonstrate strong litigation capability, persuasive written and oral communication skills, as well as the ability to work independently and collaboratively across teams of business clients, internal legal colleagues, and outside counsel to effectively and strategically manage complex litigation matters. Client counseling is also an essential part of this position. A successful candidate will demonstrate both business acumen and sound legal judgment to support and counsel Ford’s customer experience and field service organizations, and other business teams. The ability to align goals of the business and legal department, while managing tactical and day-to-day requirements in time-sensitive situations and challenging environments is key, as well as the ability to provide legal advice and training to company leaders in a business-friendly manner. To keep pace with the changing industry and legal landscape, we are also seeking a candidate that can identify and execute creative strategies to do our work more efficiently and effectively. This will include helping to design and implement new technology solutions and AI tools to our practice.

Requirements

• Juris Doctorate from an ABA-accredited law school
• Membership in good standing of the Michigan Bar (or member in good standing of another state bar and eligible for RIHC status in Michigan)
• A minimum of 4-8 years of experience practicing as a litigation attorney in a law firm, corporation, or government agency
• Strong litigation background
• Excellent analytical, critical, and strategic thinking skills
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills
• An interest in optimizing and automating legal operations by analyzing data and leveraging legal technology
• A continuous improvement mindset
• Ability to work with a diverse team

Nice To Haves

• Experience with the automotive industry or other consumer manufacturing
• Consumer warranty litigation experience, especially in California
• Be in or willing to relocate to the Detroit area, but remote candidates are welcome to apply

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic oversight of a portfolio of complex consumer litigation matters, which will include: retaining and managing outside counsel; driving the assessment of litigation risk, case strategies, and trial readiness; developing legal defenses; leading settlement negotiations; implementing new technology solutions and workflow automations to efficiently manage matters and reduce costs; managing arbitrations; and providing support, counseling, and training to business teams on legal risks, lessons learned, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Regularly collaborate with other legal teams, including discovery, class actions, product litigation, consumer finance, regulatory, and more.
• Support the regulatory team in monitoring trends; interface with federal and state agencies; support legal and legislative reform efforts; and assist with internal and third-party-driven investigations.
• Serve as the primary negotiator in direct discussions with plaintiffs’ attorneys and opposing counsel.
• Take a hands-on approach to managing dispute resolution from early pre-suit demands through trial-stage settlements.
• Independently evaluate liability and damages, formulate clear negotiation strategies, and directly engage adverse parties to secure cost-effective, advantageous resolutions while safeguarding the company’s financial interests, brand reputation, and operational priorities.

Benefits

• Immediate medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage
• Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back-up child care and more
• Family building benefits including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility treatments, and more
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members and management leases
• Tuition assistance
• Established and active employee resource groups
• Paid time off for individual and team community service
• A generous schedule of paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day
• Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior