Director, Litigation

ThermoFisher Scientific Director, Litigation in Hillsboro, Oregon

Work Schedule : Standard (Mon-Fri)

The following information provides an overview of the skills, qualities, and qualifications needed for this role.

Environmental Conditions : Office

Job Description : Thermo Fisher Scientific's Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner, and safer.

Accomplishing that Mission includes managing litigation and legal risk across Thermo Fisher businesses worldwide, in close collaboration with legal and commercial colleagues.

To support these objectives, Thermo Fisher has an exciting opportunity for experienced Litigation Counsel to :

• Lead a variety of complex civil litigations, mostly defensive and principally commercial, tort, and environmental matters.
• Provide strategic dispute counseling to senior legal teams and executive business leaders.
• Lead legal risk management process improvement across cross-functional teams.

This on-site role will be based at one of Thermo Fisher’s offices in either Waltham, MA (Boston area), Pittsburgh, PA, or Hillsboro, OR (Portland area).

Success in this role will require strong legal advocacy, sound judgment, adaptable risk tolerance, excellent communication, and a passion for continuous learning and improvement.

Primary Responsibilities :

• Lead all phases of complex civil litigation, including early case assessment through trial and appeal, with an emphasis on commercial contracts, class action products liability, toxic tort, and environmental litigation.
• Develop comprehensive litigation strategies and plans, including collaborating with business legal counsel and customers to formulate goals and apply litigation expertise to drive successful resolution.
• Provide pragmatic and actionable advice to commercial and legal teams on litigation strategy, litigation risks and risk mitigation options to influence and enable successful company results.
• Supervise outside counsel and vendors, and lead budget processes, including preparing request-for-proposals (RFPs) and making alternative fee arrangements (AFAs).
• Independently manage (and as-needed perform) litigation tasks, such as drafting briefs, preparing witnesses, attending court proceedings, and negotiating settlements.
• Drive adoption of new and improved enterprise risk management processes.
• Lead or support insurance reimbursement, bankruptcy matters, and affirmative recoveries and collaborate with internal teams to improve existing processes for same.
• Work collaboratively across organizational and geographic boundaries, building scalable processes.
• Other duties as assigned to support Thermo Fisher’s Mission and the legal department.

Minimum Qualifications :

• 10+ years of diverse, well-rounded litigation practice covering all phases of disputes. Law firm partners are encouraged to apply.
• Significant experience with at least two of the following practice areas : contract, product liability, general liability, toxic tort, and environmental.

Class action and trade secret litigation experience are pluses.

• At least some courtroom and on-feet time is a requirement; pro bono experience qualifies.
• Law degree and admission to and in good standing with a state bar.
• Extensive experience with client counseling, conflict management and resolution, and risk management.
• Strong situational awareness to adjust communication style and risk tolerance and re-calibrate strategies and recommendations around business priorities.
• Outstanding interpersonal and communication (written and verbal) skills, including tailoring communication approaches to audiences of varying legal and technical sophistication.
• Strong initiative, collaborative / team instinct, and can-do mindset.

Thermo Fisher Scientific is an EEO / Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status.

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