Regional Legal Counsel

Regional Legal Counsel

Adler Pelzer Group is seeking a highly organized and detail-oriented Regional Legal Counsel to lead all legal matters across our North America region. This role will serve as the primary legal authority for the business, providing strategic, practical, and business-oriented legal guidance across all functions.

This position is designed to internalize legal expertise currently handled by external firms, reduce outside counsel dependency, and embed legal strategy directly into business decision-making.

Responsibilities of the Regional Legal Counsel:

• Commercial & Supply Chain 
  • Lead all customer and supplier contracting. 
  • Draft, review, and negotiate supply, pricing, warranty, tooling, and terms agreements.
  • Advise on pricing disputes, warranty claims, and chargebacks.
  • Develop contract templates and negotiation playbooks. 
• Executive Business Partnering 
  • Advise CEO, CFO, COO and HR leadership on legal and business matters. 
  • Support operations, engineering, sales, finance, and HR with risk-based guidance. 
  • Translate legal risk into clear business decisions. 
• Risk Management & Compliance 
  • Identify and mitigate legal risk across operations.
  • Ensure compliance with U.S. and Mexico laws, including environmental, labor, and safety regulations. 
  • Implement company-wide legal policies and frameworks. 
• Litigation & Dispute Management 
  • Lead litigation strategy and manage outside counsel. 
  • Drive early dispute resolution to reduce legal costs. 
  • Oversee product liability, commercial, and employment-related claims. 
• Cross-Border Legal Oversight
  • Support U.S. and Mexico operations on trade, compliance, and governance. 
  • Ensure alignment and consistency across regions. 
• Corporate Governance & Strategic Initiatives
  • Support board-level matters, governance, and corporate records. 
  • Advise on M&A, restructuring, and strategic transactions. 
• Immigration Processing
  • Manage employment-based immigration for the company, including visa and work authorizations case administration, document preparation and collection, filing coordination, case tracking, employee and manager communications, renewal monitoring, compliance follow-up, and immigration recordkeeping.
• Employment & HR Legal Support
  • Counsel on employee relations, investigations, and labor matters. 
  • Guide terminations, discipline, and policy compliance. 
• Intellectual Property & Product Risk
  • Protect company IP and proprietary processes. 
  • Advise on product liability and engineering risk decisions. 

Education & Experience

• Juris Doctor (JD) and active bar license (Michigan preferred).
• 15+ years of legal experience (mix of law firm + in-house strongly preferred).
• Significant experience in:
  • Automotive, manufacturing, or industrial environments. 
  • Commercial contracts and supply chain law 
• Demonstrated ability to operate independently as sole/lead counsel.

Preferred Qualifications

• Highly experienced attorney seeking a strategic, high-impact position where they can leverage extensive experience in a more focused, business-integrated environment.
• Prior General Counsel, Senior Counsel, or Partner-level experience
• Strong business acumen, understands operations, not just legal theory
• Experience managing or replacing outside counsel relationships
• Comfortable making decisions without over-lawyering issues

Key Competencies

• Practical, business-first mindset 
• Strong negotiation and dispute resolution skills
• Executive presence and ability to influence leadership
• Ability to simplify complex legal issues
• High integrity and sound judgment

Why This Role is Unique

• Opportunity to build and own APG’s North America legal function
• Direct impact on cost savings by reducing external legal spend
• High visibility with executive leadership
• Ability to shape legal strategy across a multi-plant, international operation

• This role is expected to significantly reduce reliance on external legal counsel and drive measurable cost savings while improving speed and quality of legal decision-making.
• This role is ideal for a highly experienced attorney seeking a strategic, business-integrated role where they can leverage decades of expertise to make a meaningful impact without the demands of a traditional law firm environment.

Benefits of the Regional Legal Counsel:

• Competitive pay and generous benefits package along with the opportunity to be a part of a strong team and growing one’s career.
• Salary range is $200,000 - $275,000.  Specific salary is commensurate with experience and factors such as relevant experience, education, certifications and licenses, skills, and training.
• Excellent medical, dental, and vision insurance options from day one.
• Generous and flexible paid time off.
• 401(K) match, fully vested.
• Company provided life insurance, short term and long-term disability insurances, employee assistance program.
• Variety of automobile purchase discounts (Stellantis (FCA), BMW, Ford, GM, Subaru-many others)
• Tuition reimbursement and professional development.