Senior Legal Advisor: Litigation - Midrand

Dis-Chem Pharmacies in Midrand has an opportunity available for a Senior Legal Advisor: Litigation to join the Legal team. The main purpose of the role is to provide strategic, and specialized legal support in the management, resolution and mitigation of the Group’s litigation and dispute portfolio, including commercial, regulatory, compliance and employment-related matters. Responsible for developing litigation strategies, managing external counsel, supporting settlement negotiations, monitoring legal risk exposure, and partnering with internal stakeholders to ensure disputes are resolved effectively, commercially and in alignment with the Group’s risk parameters and business objectives.

Minimum Requirements

Essential:

• LLB degree or equivalent legal qualification and admission as an Attorney of the High Court of South

Africa

• Minimum of 8-12 years post-qualification experience with substantial litigation and dispute resolution experience
• Proven experience managing complex litigation portfolios, external counsel and settlement strategies
• Experience in employment and/or regulatory litigation

Advantageous:

• Exposure to pharmaceutical, competition, consumer or data regulatory litigation
• Experience in retail, healthcare, pharmacy or consumer-facing industries
• In-house litigation management experience in a listed or large corporate entity

Roles & Responsibilities

Litigation Strategy & Management:

• Develop and execute litigation strategy aligned with Group risk parameters and commercial objectives.
• Manage the end-to-end litigation and alternative dispute-resolution lifecycle.
• Conduct early case assessments to determine merits, exposure and recommended litigation approach.
• Define matter objectives, milestones, deliverables and decision points.
• Advise stakeholders on litigation risks, options and likely outcome.
• Determine settlement strategy and lead or oversee settlement negotiations.
• Ensure litigation matters are progressed in line with agreed strategy, timelines and procedural requirements.
• Manage external counsel and advocates, including strategy, quality, timelines, budgets and invoices.
• Monitor litigation developments and recommend strategic adjustments where required.

Regulatory, Compliance & Employment Litigation:

• Manage contested regulatory engagements and compliance litigation.
• Manage CCMA, Labour Court and related employment disputes in partnership with People & Culture.
• Coordinate specialist input from relevant stakeholders.
• Advise on regulatory investigations, enforcement actions and compliance disputes.
• Prepare and review regulatory dispute-related submissions, pleadings, affidavits and related correspondence.
• Assess legal, operational, financial and reputational risks arising from disputes.
• Develop litigation, settlements, and escalation strategies for regulatory and employment matters.
• Monitor relevant legislative, regulatory and case-law developments.

Reporting & General Legal Support:

• Maintain the litigation register and report exposure, contingent liabilities, provisioning and material developments.
• Provide secondary commercial legal support as capacity allows.
• Conduct or manage internal investigations and fact-finding inquiries.
• Manage external counsel where appointed on specific matters, including requesting, assessing and approving fee estimates and caps, coordinating internally to provide required information and documents, and reviewing invoices, for approval by the General Counsel.
• Provide training to the legal team, executives and business units (as applicable) from time to time on selected legal topics.

Litigation Portfolio Strategy & Risk Prevention:

• Segment matters according to materiality, complexity, financial exposure, reputational risk and strategic importance.
• Prioritise litigation resources and external counsel accordingly.
• Identify recurring disputes and emerging litigation trends.
• Analyse root causes of material disputes and recommend preventative legal or operational interventions.
• Provide proactive legal guidance to reduce avoidable litigation exposure.

Pre-Litigation Resolution and Risk Mitigation:

• Develop and implement strategies for resolving disputes before formal litigation.

• Advise business stakeholders on dispute escalation, negotiation and settlement options.

• Conduct post-matter reviews of significant litigation.

• Capture lessons learned and identify required policy, process, contractual or operational changes.

• Develop recurring litigation themes and risk reports for management.

• Establish appropriate processes for preservation and retrieval of relevant records and evidence. Coordinate with relevant functions on litigation readiness and document preservation.

• Competencies

• Demonstrates advanced knowledge of litigation, procedure, evidence, dispute resolution and applicable employment, commercial and regulatory law

• Cognitive skills

• Business acumen

• Communication skills

• Interpersonal skills

• Quality orientation

• Self-management skills

• Leadership & management skills

• Technical skills - Demonstrates strong litigation strategy, legal research, drafting, advocacy, evidence

assessment, dispute resolution, investigation and matter-management skills

Special conditions of employment

• South African citizen
• MIE, clear criminal and credit
• Driver’s license and/or own reliable transport
• Occasional traveling
• May be required to work outside normal office hours where material business, regulatory, transaction or

litigation deadlines require it

• Employment is subject to Dis-Chem policies, applicable vetting requirements and ongoing compliance with confidentiality, conflicts and professional obligations

Remuneration and benefits

• Market-related salary
• Medical aid
• Provident fund
• Staff account

ONLY SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS WILL BE CONTACTED. IF YOU HAVEN`T BEEN CONTACTED WITHIN TWO WEEKS AFTER THE CLOSING DATE CONSIDER YOUR APPLICATION AS UNSUCCESSFUL.

Dis-Chem Pharmacies is an equal opportunity employer. Dis-Chem’s approved Employment Equity Plan and Targets will be considered as part of the recruitment process aligned to Dis-Chem’s Employment Equity & Transformation Strategy. Dis-Chem actively supports the recruitment of People with Disabilities.

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