Vice President, Insurance Defense Counsel

MV Transportation • Dallas, TX

4d

About The Position

The Vice President, Insurance Defense Counsel will lead and oversee a nationwide portfolio of complex insurance defense and commercial liability matters arising from the Company’s transportation operations. This legal role serves as a strategic partner to senior leadership, Risk, Operations, and Finance, driving litigation strategy, insurer coordination, and enterprise risk mitigation across a highly regulated, operationally complex environment.
This role requires a seasoned litigation strategist with deep insurance defense experience, demonstrated success managing high-exposure matters, and the executive presence to influence business decision-making at the enterprise level.

Requirements

• Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school.
• Active license and good standing in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
• 10+ years of insurance defense and complex commercial litigation experience.
• Experience in both law firm practice and in-house counsel roles.
• Demonstrated success managing high-exposure or catastrophic liability matters.
• Significant experience directing outside counsel and coordinating with insurance carriers.
• Strong command of civil procedure, discovery strategy, trial practice, and ADR.
• Executive-level judgment and strategic risk assessment.
• Sophisticated negotiation and settlement leadership.
• Ability to balance litigation posture with commercial objectives.
• Strong financial acumen and litigation budget management.
• Clear, persuasive written and verbal communication.
• Executive presence with the ability to advise C-suite stakeholders.
• Highly organized with the ability to manage a large, complex docket.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in transportation, transit, trucking, logistics, or similar operational industries.
• Experience with self-insured retention programs or large deductible insurance structures.
• Catastrophic injury or wrongful death litigation experience.
• Trial or first-chair experience.

Responsibilities

• Manage a national docket of insurance defense matters, including bodily injury, property damage, catastrophic loss, and related commercial liability claims.
• Develop and execute case strategy from pre-suit investigation through trial and appeal.
• Evaluate liability exposure, damages modeling, settlement posture, and trial risk; provide clear, business-oriented recommendations to executive leadership and insurers.
• Lead participation in mediations, high-stakes settlement negotiations, and trial oversight as appropriate.
• Drive consistency, accountability, and performance standards across a national litigation portfolio.
• Serve as the senior legal liaison to insurance carriers, brokers, and third-party administrators.
• Analyze and advise on coverage issues, reservations of rights, indemnity obligations, and allocation disputes.
• Partner with Risk Management and Finance on self-insured retention strategy, deductible management, and claims trend analysis.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to reduce claims frequency and severity through operational risk mitigation initiatives.
• Provide practical, business-focused legal guidance to Operations, Safety, and executive leadership regarding litigation exposure and claims prevention.
• Support significant incident response and internal investigations.
• Develop and deliver litigation and claims training to field and corporate leadership.
• Identify systemic risk trends and recommend proactive policy or operational adjustments.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Education Level: No Education Listed