Lead Litigation

Purpose/Objective

Lead the end-to-end litigation and dispute portfolio of the Cement Business, formulate matter-specific and portfolio-level legal strategies, and provide timely, practical and risk-based legal advice to business and enabling functions.
The role will protect the Company's legal, financial, operational and reputational interests through effective stakeholder engagement, disciplined external counsel and legal cost management, strong governance and reporting, and development of a high-performing legal team.

Key Responsibilities of Role

Key Accountabilities Litigation & Dispute Resolution: - Manage and coordinate all litigation matters related to land disputes, representing or supervising external counsels, and strategizing effective resolution mechanisms.

• Own and manage the litigation and dispute portfolio before the Supreme Court, High Courts, National Green Tribunal, civil, commercial, criminal, consumer, labour and industrial forums, arbitral tribunals, regulatory authorities and other judicial or quasi-judicial bodies.
• Prioritise matters through risk grading and periodic reviews; identify precedent-setting cases, recurring claims and systemic issues requiring enterprise-level intervention.
• Ensure complete procedural discipline, including limitation control, timely pleadings and filings, evidence and witness preparation, hearing readiness, compliance with orders, execution, recovery and formal matter closure.
• Select, appoint, brief and supervise advocates, senior counsel, law firms, arbitrators, technical experts, investigators and other legal service providers in accordance with approved processes and delegation of authority.
• Review and finalise legal notices, replies, petitions, appeals, affidavits, statements of claim and defence, written submissions, legal opinions, settlement terms and other critical documents.
• Lead or support arbitration, mediation, conciliation, commercial negotiation and settlement processes, ensuring that settlement recommendations are legally sound, commercially justified and appropriately approved.
• Monitor counsel performance, strategy execution, conflicts of interest, confidentiality, legal privilege, quality of deliverables, hearing outcomes and post-order action plans .
  Legal Risk and Regulatory Governance - Identify, assess and escalate legal and regulatory risks arising from operations, projects, mining, land, environment, people, commercial arrangements and government action, and maintain appropriate risk registers and mitigation plans.
• Track material legislative, regulatory and judicial developments; issue concise legal alerts and translate changes into actions for relevant functions and locations.
• Design or strengthen legal policies, standard operating procedures, escalation protocols, playbooks and preventive controls to reduce recurrence of disputes and regulatory exposure.
  Stakeholder Management - Build effective working relationships with business leadership, functional heads, plant and mine teams, Company Secretarial, Finance, Risk, Compliance, Audit and other legal teams.
• Represent or support the Company in interactions with government departments, regulators, local administration, statutory bodies and other external stakeholders.
• Maintain clear, timely and privileged communication with senior management on material developments, legal options, financial exposure, operational implications and decisions required Legal Cost, Budget and Vendor Management - Prepare and manage the annual litigation and legal services budget, forecasts, accruals and provisions, with matter-level visibility and timely explanations for variances.
• Drive cost efficiency through early dispute resolution, focused briefing, use of internal capability, alternative fee arrangements, benchmarking and periodic vendor performance reviews.
  Reporting to Management, Auditors and Board - Prepare and validate periodic litigation MIS, dashboards and management reports covering material cases, legal risk, financial exposure, contingent liabilities, provisions, claims, recoveries, regulatory issues, legal spend and key actions.
• Coordinate with Finance and Company Secretarial teams for accurate assessment and disclosure of litigation, commitments, claims, contingent liabilities and provisions in financial statements and corporate reports.
• Provide complete, consistent and timely information to statutory auditors, internal auditors and other assurance functions, while preserving confidentiality and legal privilege, and drive closure of audit observations.
• Prepare or support papers, presentations, briefing notes and action trackers for the Board, Audit Committee, Risk Committee and senior management, and promptly escalate significant judgments, notices or adverse developments.
  Team Leadership and Development - Set clear responsibilities, priorities, KRAs and quality standards; allocate matters based on risk, complexity, capability and business need, and monitor timely execution.
• Coach and mentor team members on litigation strategy, drafting, advocacy support, legal research, business partnering, stakeholder communication and professional judgement.

Technical Competencies

Litigation & Dispute Resolution Management,Legal Risk & Regulatory Compliance Management,Legal Drafting & Advisory,Legal Governance, Reporting & Budget Management

Qualifications and Experience

Qualification LL.
B or B.
A LL.
B from a reputed institute Experience 10 – 15 years of experience in handling similar work in a manufacturing set up (preferably in metal & mining industry) having its plants at various locations.