Assistant Region Counsel - Lehigh Hanson

The Role and the Company
We’re Heidelberg Materials. Our products build cities and towns, including stadiums that hold thousands of fans, and bridges that support millions of vehicles. We have nearly 9,000 employees across 450 locations in the U.S. and Canada, making us North America’s leading supplier of cement, aggregates, ready-mixed concrete, asphalt, and related construction materials.

Heidelberg Materials North America is seeking a qualified Assistant Region Counsel. This position will be based out of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania office of the Company’s subsidiary, Three Rivers Management, Inc. This is a great opportunity for an enthusiastic, litigation-experienced attorney to work closely with Heidelberg Materials North America’s senior management and the key Company attorney and non-attorney personnel who manage the asbestos and non-asbestos toxic tort portfolios, as well as other environmental and non-environmental matters, in the Company’s legacy liability portfolio.

Reporting to Associate General Counsel – TRMI Litigation, this Assistant Region Counsel will be a member of our active, North America-wide Company Legal Department and have regular exposure to some of the Company’s key leadership. The Assistant Region Counsel will join a team of three attorneys and one paralegal based out of the Pittsburgh office. The successful candidate will primarily focus on management of approximately 80,000 asbestos personal injury lawsuits and several dozen non-asbestos toxic tort matters, as well as the various outside counsel retained to defend the Company and its subsidiaries in those matters. In addition, the successful candidate will provide general legal and litigation support on an as-needed basis to other legacy liability matters and sites located around the country and managed by the Pittsburgh office team, as well as select matters involving the Company’s business operations. While this Assistant Region Counsel position will primarily assist in the management of the asbestos and other legacy products cases, our team works collaboratively to integrate our attorneys into a variety of different projects, so other opportunities will arise in connection with this position.

What you’ll get to do

• Assist in coordinating approximately 20-30 different law firms managing and handling defense of approximately 80,000 pending asbestos cases.

• Assist in the collaboration with insurer claims handlers and insurer attorneys in managing defense of insured litigation matters.

• Assist in managing the outside law firms defending the Company in uninsured litigation matters, including retention, separation and invoicing related to such law firms.

• Assist in gathering documentation and information in response to litigation discovery requests and subpoenas.

• Provide timely advice and counsel to internal clients in various legal topics (litigation, real property, contracts, etc.) with a focus on litigation management.

• Research and analyze legal issues and write summaries/memos for submission to senior Legal Department attorneys and the Company’s General Counsel.

• Assist in coordination with the Legal Department’s Legal Operations team to ensure timely processing of new legal matters, including tender to insurers and outside counsel for handling defense, and updates of the Company’s asbestos claims management system.

• Handle other legal matters and duties as assigned by senior Legal Department attorneys and the Company’s General Counsel.

Essential Experience and Skills

• Minimum of 2+ years of relevant legal experience. Experience in litigation defense is essential, but experience with providing general legal advice on a variety of matters and topics is also valuable.

• Candidates must hold a Juris Doctor (J.D.) or equivalent law degree from an accredited institution and be admitted to the bar in good standing in at least one state in the United States.

• Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis.

• Ability to work independently – but knowing when to ask questions.

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills. The ideal candidate is professional, honest, diligent and empathetic, with an ability to simply and succinctly convey complex legal topics and matters to management.

• Ability to quickly learn and grasp the legal importance of new and unfamiliar issues is necessary for the position.

• Capable of prioritizing and juggling multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment.

What we have to offer

• Competitive base salary

• Highly competitive benefits programs

• 401k retirement savings plan with an automatic company contribution as well as matching contributions

• Hybrid work environment