Counsel Patent & General Litigation

Job Summary

Reporting to the SVP, Legal - Head of Litigation & Investigations, this role will engage in a wide variety of litigation and regulatory matters facing the company, with a particular focus on managing the Company’s patent litigation and licensing disputes.  This role will also assist in contract disputes, product liability litigations, consumer actions, government investigations and regulatory activity, and other intellectual property matters.  The successful candidate will have experience with substantive litigation matters, including substantive patent experience, in a corporate environment or law firm.  Candidates must have proven legal analytical skills, excellent written and oral advocacy skills, and the organizational and multitasking skills necessary to manage multiple high-profile matters. The candidate must be able to engage collaboratively across all levels of the Company to efficiently and effectively fulfill the Company’s litigation and regulatory obligations, including, but not limited, to pre-litigation fact-gathering, discovery collection, and high-level strategy.  Candidates must also be team players and self-starters who can work independently and succeed in a highly dynamic and demanding environment.

Responsibilities

• Support the full docket of AUSA’s nationwide litigation, arbitration, and regulatory matters, working strategically with the SVP – Head of Litigation & Investigations, Senior Counsel - Litigation, outside counsel, internal legal colleagues, and the business to minimize litigation risks and effectuate a high-level legal strategy.
• Drive litigation strategy on patent risk management and responses to pre-litigation license demand letters and manage the patent litigation docket, in coordination with other members of the legal team and outside counsel.  Doing so includes directing high-level strategy; assessing patent portfolios and providing recommendations on next steps; vendor indemnification negotiations; conducting document collection, management, and review; as well as interviewing internal colleagues in connection with fact-gathering.
• Work with and support the Senior Counsel – Litigation to manage the Company’s litigation and regulatory obligations in connection with pre-litigation disputes, consumer matters, complex civil litigations, and government investigations including, but not limited to, the collection of information and discovery, oversight of outside counsel and review of work product, and strategic evaluation of claims. 
• Participate in indemnification assessments, internal investigations, witness preparation, expert retention, pretrial dispositive motion practice, determination of settlement value, developing and executing negotiation strategies, and trial preparation in a wide array of litigation matters.
• Identify trends relating to patent law and telecommunications industry litigation and recommend potential responses and proactive measures.
• Draft and prepare pre-litigation correspondence, deposition preparation materials, motion papers and other litigation documents.
• Partner with outside counsel on the development of litigation plans and budgets.

Qualifications

• JD degree and state bar admission required.
• Minimum of 3 years related legal experience at a law firm and/or in-house public company environment, with substantive patent experience; telecom industry experience preferred.
• Smart, driven, organized, and energetic. 
• Demonstrated ability to apply sound business judgment, provide practical legal advice, and quickly build and maintain effective and positive relationships with business partners and colleagues in the legal department.
• Strong ability to analyze complex business and legal issues (including relevant contract, intellectual property and patent, subscriber class action, arbitrability, and product liability issues) and problem solve.
• Ability to direct litigation partners of major law firms retained as outside counsel to AUSA.
• Excellent research, writing and communication skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including ability to work collaboratively within a small team on a variety of substantive matters.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment and to perform well under pressure while performing multiple tasks.
• Unquestioned ethics and integrity; ability to uphold the highest level of professional standards.