Senior Attorney - Commercial & IP

Freudenberg Group • Plymouth, MI

3d

About The Position

The Senior Attorney - Commercial & IP role at Freudenberg focuses on providing comprehensive legal support for intellectual property (IP)-related commercial agreements and corporate transactions. This position involves drafting, negotiating, and advising on various contracts, conducting IP due diligence for M&A activities, assessing and mitigating IP risks, managing outside counsel, and collaborating with internal teams to support business growth while maintaining legal and IP risk controls. The role requires a deep understanding of patent and trademark systems and their commercial exploitation, with a strong emphasis on protecting the company's IP assets.

Requirements

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited law school.
• Active admission to practice law before at least one U.S. state bar.
• 5+ years of experience in commercial transactions with a strong intellectual property focus.
• Substantial experience drafting and negotiating licensing, collaboration, and development agreements.
• Demonstrated experience managing outside counsel and overseeing legal budgets.
• Capacity to review, legally analyze and revise legal documents and contracts with a good understanding of commercial and strategic aspects and solid drafting skills.
• Experience working with cross-functional and international teams.

Nice To Haves

• Experience supporting intellectual property aspects of mergers and acquisitions or other strategic transactions is preferred
• Prior in-house experience in an IP- or technology-driven organization.
• Familiarity with patent and trademark portfolios and their commercial exploitation.

Responsibilities

• Draft, negotiate, and advise on a wide range of IP-related standard documents, contract management templates, guidelines and know-how, commercial agreements, including joint development agreements, collaboration agreements, and inbound and outbound licensing agreements.
• Ensure agreements appropriately protect the Company's intellectual property assets, confidential information, and brand elements.
• Advise on ownership, use rights, improvements, sublicensing rights, commercialization provisions, and termination clauses.
• Provide intellectual property legal support for corporate transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and strategic investments.
• Conduct and advise on IP due diligence, including assessment of patent, trademark, and licensing portfolios.
• Advise on intellectual property representations, warranties, covenants, indemnities, and allocation of transactional risk.
• Support post-closing integration planning relating to intellectual property assets, agreements, and ongoing contractual obligations.
• Apply deep knowledge of patent and trademark systems to evaluate IP-sensitive commercial transactions and business relationships.
• Identify, assess, and mitigate intellectual property risks associated with commercial agreements and strategic initiatives.
• Provide practical, business-oriented legal advice aligned with the Company's commercial strategy.
• Engage, manage, and oversee outside counsel supporting IP-related transactional and M&A matters.
• Oversee, monitor, and manage external legal spend related to IP transactions and commercial support.
• Supporting and handling IP litigation and assisting in the development of litigation strategies.
• Collaborate closely with Legal and IP Team colleagues, R&D, commercial, procurement, and corporate development teams.
• Serve as a trusted legal advisor to internal stakeholders on IP-related transactional matters.
• Support business growth while maintaining appropriate legal and intellectual property risk controls.

What This Job Offers

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