Counsel – Settlement Team

Barnes-&-Thornburg-LL; Nashville (TN); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Barnes & Thornburg in Nashville seeks a seasoned Counsel to lead its product liability and mass tort settlements, guiding negotiations from inception through final claim resolution and program closure.

The ideal candidate will have extensive experience negotiating and implementing large-scale settlements involving thousands of claimants and a deep understanding of drafting, claims administration, settlement allocation, lien resolution, data management and governance of settlement funds.

Qualifications

• JD degree from an accredited law school and active Bar in good standing.
• Minimum 8 years of significant mass tort experience, including drug, medical device, or consumer products.
• Strong drafting, negotiation, and leadership skills for complex settlements.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage all aspects of complex product liability and mass tort settlements.
• Negotiate settlement structures, eligibility criteria, and final claim resolution.
• Draft, review, and finalize settlement-related documents; resolve disputes.
• Direct teams of paralegals and attorneys in claims review and categorization.
• Analyze data across claims to monitor values and trends.
• Oversee settlement implementation, claims administration, workflow, and quality assurance.

Skills

Negotiation

Contract drafting

Mass torts experience

Litigation management

Data analysis

Education

Juris Doctor (JD)

Tools

Case Manager Pro

Claims administration platforms

AI-enabled claim review platforms

Job description

Office: Any BT Office Location

We are seeking a highly qualified Counsel attorney to work with firm Partners as part of the firm’s product liability and mass torts resolution team. This attorney will be responsible for leading and managing all aspects of complex product liability, toxic tort, and mass tort settlements from initial negotiations through final claim resolution and program closure.

The ideal candidate possesses extensive experience negotiating and implementing large-scale settlements involving thousands of claimants and has a deep understanding of contract drafting principles, claims administration, settlement allocation methodologies, lien resolution, data management, reporting obligations and compliance issues, and settlement fund governance.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead and support settlement negotiations in complex product liability, mass tort, toxic tort, and consumer product litigation matters.
• Help develop settlement structures and eligibility criteria.
• Serve as primary legal and operations lead, ensuring settlements are executed efficiently, accurately, and in accordance with all legal requirements.
• Work directly with plaintiffs’ counsel to negotiate, draft, review, and finalize all settlement-related documents, and to resolve any claimant disputes or appeals.
• Manage teams of nurse paralegals and other attorneys to review and assess the qualification and categorization of incoming claims.
• Perform data analysis across claims, such as monitoring values and identifying trends within a tort (e.g., for individual firms and claim groups) and across a settlement.
• Oversee all aspects of settlement implementation and claims administration, including workflow and quality assurance.

EXPERIENCE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES REQUIRED

• Juris Doctor (JD) degree from an accredited law school.
• Candidate must be active and in good standing with the local state Bar, or be eligible to waive in.
• Minimum of 8 years of significant and substantive experience practicing law, with a focus on mass torts in the drug, medical device and/or consumer products area(s), including at least three years of litigation practice at a law firm.
• Claims resolution experience, preferably with a focus on pharmaceutical products, medical devices, or consumer health or consumer-facing products.
• Detail-oriented with ability to simultaneously manage multiple teams and work streams.
• Familiarity with matter management systems (e.g., Case Manager Pro), claims administration platforms, and AI-enabled claim review platforms preferred.
• Experience drafting, reviewing and/or directly negotiating settlement documents, and a deep understanding of contracting principles generally.
• Strong problem-solving, project management, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• The ideal candidate will also be highly motivated to be part of an active settlement practice, demonstrate initiative, an ability to assume responsibility for client matters, as well as the interpersonal skills to work well as part of a large, collaborative team.

WORKING CONDITIONS

1. Normal law office environment with little exposure to excessive noise, dust, temperature, and the like.
2. Must have the ability to work under pressure and multi-task.

Equal Employment and Opportunity Statement:

Barnes & Thornburg is committed to equal employment opportunity in both principle and as a matter of policy. We will recruit, hire, train, promote, compensate and provide benefits to all applicants and employees without regard to ancestry, sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, gender, age, religion, religious creed, mental and/or physical disability, medical condition, military and/or veteran’s status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state and local laws. This policy applies to all recruiting, hiring, promotions, upgrades, layoffs, compensation, benefits, terminations and all other privileges, terms and conditions of employment. The firm complies fully with all federal, state and local equal employment opportunity laws.