Senior Counsel - Litigation

Build your career at Sazerac! With almost 400 years of rich history, Sazerac Company has thrived as an independent, American family-owned company with operations in the United States and around the world. Since the 2000s, Sazerac has averaged double digit growth every year! Sazerac Company produces and markets the most award-winning bourbons and whiskeys in the world, including Buffalo Trace, Pappy Van Winkle, Eagle Rare, Blanton’s, and Sazerac Rye. Additionally, Sazerac owns many popular brands across a range of spirits, including Fireball, Southern Comfort, Seagram’s V.O., Myers’s, Goldschläger, Parrot Bay, 99 Brand, and Platinum Vodka. 

We’re proud of our award-winning culture and distilleries. Our Louisville office has been named one of the “Best Places to Work in Kentucky” four times, and our Buffalo Trace Distillery has earned the title of “world’s most award-winning distillery” through the dedication of our craftsmen for well over 200 years. Whether you’re a recent graduate or an experienced professional, Sazerac provides extraordinary opportunities for growth with competitive salaries and benefits in an exciting, entrepreneurial industry.

The Senior Counsel, Litigation is responsible for managing and executing the company’s litigation strategy and operations, with a particular focus on eDiscovery, discovery management, records retention, legal holds, and external counsel oversight. This role serves as a central point of coordination across Legal, Risk Management, Insurance, IT, and business stakeholders to ensure litigation matters are handled efficiently, defensibly, and within approved budgets. You will promote awareness of attorney–client privilege, legal risk, and responsible communication practices across the organization. You will also design and deliver company-wide training on privilege protection, legal communications, and investigations, and partner with internal teams and international counsel to ensure consistent privilege-preserving practices across jurisdictions.

In this hybrid role, you'll be expected onsite 3 days a week for in-person collaboration with the team.

What You’ll Do:

• Lead litigation discovery and legal compliance activities to ensure defensible processes and regulatory adherence. Manage all phases of litigation discovery including preservation, collection, review, and production. Design and administer the company’s legal hold program and partner with IT and Records Management to align data sources and enforce the records retention schedule. Provide guidance on privilege protection, discovery proportionality, and legal risk mitigation. Ensure compliance with discovery obligations, privilege standards, and legal processes across the organization.
• Develop and improve standardized litigation and discovery processes that increase efficiency and defensibility. Create discovery protocols, playbooks, and workflows that guide legal, IT, and business teams during litigation matters. Continuously evaluate discovery processes, vendor performance, and internal procedures to improve effectiveness, reduce risk, and streamline legal operations.
• Manage relationships with outside counsel, eDiscovery vendors, and litigation support providers to ensure effective service delivery and adherence to company expectations. Serve as primary liaison with external legal providers and ensure compliance with billing guidelines, discovery protocols, and privilege standards.
• Oversee litigation budgeting and legal spend management. Require detailed budgets from outside counsel, monitor spend against approved budgets, and address variances proactively. Prepare reports on litigation status, costs, and risk exposure to support financial planning and leadership decision-making.
• Promote awareness of attorney–client privilege, legal risk, and responsible communication practices across the organization. Design and deliver company-wide training on privilege protection, legal communications, and investigations. Partner with internal teams and international counsel to ensure consistent privilege-preserving practices across jurisdictions.

Required:

• Juris doctor from an accredited law school; active bar membership
• 7+ years of litigation experience, including discovery and ediscovery leadership

Preferred:

• Demonstrated expertise in litigation operations, privilege, and cost management
• In-house experience is strongly preferred

Culture and Benefits:

Sazerac offers a comprehensive compensation and benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, 401K, paid time off, and more. These benefits may vary depending on location and work type. Learn more about how we support our employees here.

The annual salary range for this role is $160,000 - $240,000. Final compensation will be based on relevant experience, qualifications, geographic location, and internal pay equity considerations.

Sazerac is committed to equality of opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, veteran status, age, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, genetic information, physical or mental disability or any other legally protected status.

What’s Next:

After you apply, a recruiter will review your application and reach out to qualified candidates. Selected candidates will follow our interview process, which may include a phone screen, hiring manager interview, and panel interviews with business leaders. There may be additional steps or assessments throughout the process dependent on the position. Applicants who are not selected to move through the process, at any stage, will be notified via email.

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