Our client, an established Global Transportation/Logistics company is looking to bring on a Senior Counsel to join their legal team. This individual will report directly to the General Counsel and oversee a wide range of legal and business matters, mainly centered around transportation and logistics transactional work on a global scale.
Job: Senior Counsel
Location: Northwest Chicagoland
In-office: 4 days per week, 1 remote
Compensation: $175,000 - $190,000 and additional bonus & incentives
Responsibilities:
Transportation and Logistics Contracts
- Surface Transportation: Draft, review, and negotiate complex, high‑volume transportation agreements across all modes, including Truckload (TL), Less‑than‑Truckload (LTL), intermodal rail/truck, brokerage agreements, and agent contracts.
- Global Forwarding: Provide legal support for international logistics operations by preparing and negotiating contracts related to air and ocean freight forwarding, customs brokerage, and drayage/terminal services.
- Customer Agreements: Structure, negotiate, and finalize master customer agreements for integrated logistics offerings such as warehousing, distribution, fulfillment, drayage, and managed transportation services.
Real Estate & Construction
- Leasing: Manage the full lifecycle of commercial real estate transactions, including drafting and negotiating leases, subleases, license agreements, lease amendments, and related occupancy documents.
- Construction: Support capital improvement and construction projects by negotiating construction contracts, design and architectural agreements, and other vendor contracts associated with new facilities or renovations.
Insurance & Vendor Management
- Risk Management: Review and advise on corporate insurance programs, claims, and policy structures, ensuring appropriate coverage, contract compliance, and alignment with company risk strategy.
- Vendor & Supplier Agreements: Draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of vendor and professional services agreements across departments (e.g., IT, Finance, HR, Marketing, Operations).
Litigation & Claims Oversight
- Manage litigation, claims, and disputes relating to transportation, logistics operations, real estate, or vendor relationships by overseeing outside counsel, gathering internal facts, and guiding strategy toward efficient resolution.
Qualifications:
- 4-10 years of legal experience, preferably focused in the transportation/logistics industry at either a firm or in-house.
- Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from an accredited law school
- Strong communication skills
- Business saavy - ability to contribute from both a legal and business perspective
- Collaborative - ability to work closely with the General Counsel and other members of the legal and c-suite team.
