Senior Legal Counsel

Company Description

Established in 1911, Dutton Automotive is the largest retailer and wholesaler of pre-owned luxury, exotic, prestige, family and commercial vehicles in Australia, focused on reliable and customer-centric automotive services.

Dutton Automotive was recently acquired by Japanese conglomerate Sojitz Corporation. Sojitz employs over 20,000 people and operates in 87 countries across the globe.

Dutton Automotive is a Co-Major Partner of Essendon Football Club and currently operates from 21 dealerships throughout Australia. We currently have over 300+ staff nationally and are growing! 

Job Description

We are seeking a dynamic and passionate Senior Legal Counsel to join our Dutton Automotive head office in Richmond. This is an exciting and rare opportunity!

This role is responsible for providing expert legal advice and representation across the Dutton Automotive Group for commercial litigation matters, with a particular emphasis on consumer law and product liability issues in dispute.

The incumbent will play a critical part in independently managing complex legal disputes, engaging in mediations and conciliations, and appearing at tribunals such as VCAT.

While the role is focused on dispute resolution, there will also be opportunity to take on broader transactional and advisory work across the Group.

Key responsibilities include:

• Dispute resolution & litigation - Manage and run disputes independently across all business units, including consumer law, product liability, contractual, property, and employment-related litigation matters.
• Consumer law & product liability - Provide specialist advice on Australian Consumer Law (ACL) compliance, and associated risk management.
• Regulatory compliance - Respond to regulatory inquiries and other authorities as and when required (Office of Fair Trading, Motor Traders Fund, etc)
• Records management & reporting – file management and regular reporting on ongoing dispute matters in accordance with board and audit requirements
• Stakeholder engagement - partner with internal business leaders and liaise with external counsel, insurers, regulators, and industry bodies on key legal issues.

Qualifications

To be successful in this role you must have: 

• Automotive industry experience or demonstrable history of matter management with automotive industry clients
• Tertiary qualifications in Law and current practising certificate in Australia.
• Typically 5+ years PQE with a strong background in litigation, disputes, and regulatory matters.
• Proven expertise in consumer law and product liability.
• Demonstrated experience in VCAT or similar tribunal attendance, mediations, and conciliations.
• Must be able to run matters independently with minimal supervision.
• Exceptional drafting, negotiation, and advocacy skills.
• Commercially pragmatic approach with the ability to balance legal risk with business objectives.

Additional Information

Benefits & Perks:

• Salary package in line with experience
• A 'paid day of leave' to celebrate your Birthday
• Access to our Employee Novated Lease Program
• Access to a fully funded EAP Program to support you and your family
• Exclusive access to PitStop offering direct access to shopping discount codes and discounted gift cards, helping you save while you shop!

At Dutton Automotive, we value our customers and our employees. Our values are built on prioritising our customer needs, valuing our employee's flexibility to change, and fostering creativity and initiative. If you share our values and have the skills and experience, we are looking for, we encourage you to apply for this exciting opportunity.