Litigation Counsel - Part time at CECO Environmental in Addison, TX

Job Summary

CECO Environmental is a global leader in providing sustainable solutions for industrial air, water, and energy transition. Since 1966, we’ve been addressing the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Our mission is to protect people, the environment, and industrial equipment, making a tangible impact across industries like renewable energy, semiconductor manufacturing, power generation, and water treatment. As a purpose-driven company, we foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and integrity, ensuring that every project we undertake creates lasting positive change. At CECO, you’ll be part of a growing, dynamic team committed to a cleaner, safer, and more sustainable future.

We are proud to share that CECO was named one of Newsweek’s America’s Greatest Companies for 2025 and that Forbes recognized CECO as one of America’s Most Successful Small‑Cap Companies for 2026, marking our third consecutive year on the Forbes list. CECO Environmental is a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ under the ticker CECO, reflecting our strong growth, financial performance, and commitment to delivering value to shareholders.

CECO Environmental Corp. is seeking a Part-time experienced litigation attorney to serve as Litigation Counsel, responsible for managing litigation and dispute matters enterprise-wide. This role focuses on independent oversight of litigation strategy, pre-litigation risk assessment, outside counsel management, litigation holds, and cost control, while serving as a clear, trusted advisor to the General Counsel, business leaders, and members of the legal team. Litigation Counsel will provide practical, concise, and timely advice; maintain enterprise-level visibility into litigation risk; and ensure consistent, disciplined management of disputes in alignment with CECO’s risk tolerance, values, and outside counsel guidelines. This position will initially be structured as a half-time (0.5 FTE) role, with responsibility scoped to allow effective independent management of assigned matters

This role is expected to provide active, hands-on litigation management, not passive oversight, with an eye toward early, cost-effective resolutions rather than simply handing matters to outside counsel. Litigation Counsel will work closely with General Counsel, who has managed CECO’s litigation since 2020, to assume responsibility for and execute day-to-day ownership of litigation matters, drive strategy, and ensure disciplined execution across the enterprise. Success in this role requires independent judgment, clear and succinct communication, and a proactive, detail-oriented approach to managing outside counsel and litigation risk.

Your Responsibilities Will Be:

Enterprise Litigation Management

• Manage CECO’s litigation and dispute portfolio enterprise-wide, including commercial, employment, product, regulatory, and other claims.
• Independently assess litigation and pre-litigation matters and provide strategic recommendations regarding case handling, escalation, resolution, or defense.
• Maintain clear, current visibility into litigation status, trends, and risk exposure across the enterprise.

Pre-Litigation Advisory & Business Counseling

• Provide direct, practical legal advice in the pre-litigation stage, including risk assessment, preservation obligations, early resolution strategies, and coordination with insurers.
• Serve as a legal advisor and collaborator to business-facing attorneys and directly to business leaders, as appropriate, on dispute-related issues.
• Support informed decision-making by distilling complex litigation issues into clear, succinct guidance tied to business impact.

Outside Counsel Management

• Actively and assertively manage outside litigation counsel across all litigation matters, including close oversight of strategy, staffing, work product, budgets, and timelines, again with an eye toward cost-effective, early resolutions in lieu of simply proceeding through the standard steps of litigation.
• This role requires hands-on, detail-driven management of outside counsel to ensure alignment with CECO’s strategy, expectations, and cost discipline.
• Review, direct, and challenge outside counsel recommendations as necessary to ensure efficient, effective representation and avoidance of unnecessary cost or risk.
• Review and approve all litigation invoices to ensure strict compliance with CECO’s outside counsel guidelines and any matter-specific direction provided.
• Oversee national coordinating counsel supporting CECO’s asbestos docket, ensuring consistency of strategy, disciplined cost management, and alignment across jurisdictions.
• Expectation is the Litigation Counsel will direct, not defer to, outside counsel, and will intervene early and frequently to correct course, re-scope work, or adjust strategy as necessary.

Litigation Holds, Investigations, and Process Oversight

• Own and manage CECO’s litigation hold process, including issuance, monitoring, and release of holds in coordination with internal stakeholders.
• Support internal investigations related to disputes, claims, or significant incidents, as needed and assigned, in partnership with other Legal Team members.
• Coordinate discovery strategy and e-discovery vendors through outside counsel oversight, as appropriate.

Litigation Portfolio Management and Reporting

• Maintain and continuously update CECO’s monthly legal matters tracker, incorporating input from business-facing attorneys and outside counsel.
• Ensure the tracker provides accurate, current, and enterprise-wide visibility into litigation status, risk exposure, key developments, budgets, and anticipated decision points.
• Actively follow up with internal and external stakeholders to drive timely updates; this role is accountable for keeping the tracker current, not merely collecting inputs.
• Use the tracker as a management tool to identify trends, escalation items, and opportunities for early resolution or proactive risk mitigation.
• Provide concise, executive-ready summaries to the General Counsel highlighting material developments, emerging risks, and recommended actions.

Communication, Escalation, and Risk Management Expectations

• Maintain clear, timely, and proactive communication with the General Counsel, with an emphasis on transparency, early issue identification, and avoiding surprises.

• Provide concise enterprise-level updates on litigation matters, highlighting key risks, developments, and decision points.

• Exercise sound judgment in escalating material litigation issues with potential reputational, financial, regulatory, or operational impact.

• Demonstrate exceptional ability to translate complex litigation issues into clear, succinct, business-oriented updates, with a focus on risk, exposure, decision points, and recommended paths forward.

• Work in close partnership with the General Counsel, providing frequent, proactive updates and recommendations regarding litigation management, and smoothly transitioning day-to-day litigation management responsibilities that have historically been handled by the General Counsel

• Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Legal Team members and internal stakeholders (including Finance, EHS, HR, and Operations) to support coordinated and consistent handling of disputes.

• Collaborate effectively with business-facing attorneys to align strategy with broader legal and business objectives.

• Monitor emerging litigation trends and risk areas relevant to CECO’s global industrial operation

• This role will be successful only if litigation matters are being actively driven forward, outside counsel is being closely managed, enterprise leadership has clear visibility into risk, and there are no surprises.

Qualifications

• J.D. from an accredited law school; active membership in good standing with a U.S. State Bar.
• 5+ years of litigation experience, with meaningful experience managing litigation matters independently.
• Prior experience managing litigation dockets and outside counsel; prior in-house litigation management experience preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex litigation issues clearly and succinctly to senior leadership.
• Strong judgment and ability to balance legal risk with practical business considerations.
• Experience supporting industrial, manufacturing, engineering, or project-based business preferred.
• Strong organizational skills and proven ability to manage multiple matters under time pressure.
• Demonstrated independence, accountability, and discretion when handling sensitive matters.
• Collaborative mindset and ability to function effectively in a matrixed legal organization.

Travel Requirements (Requirement): Occasional travel may be required, as necessary.

ADA Requirements:

Office Positions

Work Environment: This position may be performed on a remote, hybrid, or in-office basis, depending on candidate qualifications and business needs. The role requires regular engagement with internal stakeholders and outside counsel through virtual meetings, collaborative work sessions, and occasional in-person meetings. Flexibility to participate in scheduled video meetings and periodic in-person collaboration, as needed, is required.

Physical Demands

Positions in this function typically require standing, climbing, balancing, stooping, kneeling, crouching, crawling, reaching, standing, walking, pushing, pulling, lifting, fingering, grasping, feeling, talking, hearing, seeing and repetitive motions.

Concentrated mental and/or visual attention. The work involves performing complex tasks to very close accuracy and quality specifications, or a high degree of hand and eye coordination for sustained periods. Compliance with company attendance standards.

The job is typically performed under comfortable working conditions; any disagreeable elements are generally absent during normal performance of job.

Compliance with company attendance standards.  

Sedentary Work: Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time. Jobs are sedentary if walking and standing are required only occasionally, and all other sedentary criteria are met.