Litigation & Recovery ManagerWe are seeking an experienced Litigation & Recovery Manager to lead the Company's litigation and recovery activities related to distressed and defaulted equipment finance transactions. This hands-on role requires strong judgment, persistence, and commercial thinking. Reporting to the Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, the Litigation & Recovery Manager will develop and execute strategies to maximize recoveries, protect company assets, and resolve matters efficiently while balancing financial, legal, customer, and reputational considerations. This position oversees a portfolio of complex default, litigation, repossession, bankruptcy, deficiency, fraud, and other recovery matters and partners closely with Credit, Collections, Asset Management, Operations, Sales, Finance, Compliance, and Legal.
Essential Functions:- Manage a portfolio of complex litigation, recovery, bankruptcy, repossession, deficiency, enforcement, fraud, and other matters arising from equipment finance and leasing transactions, including matters brought by or against the Company.
- Develop and execute recovery strategies based on exposure, collateral value, obligor financial condition, guarantees, documentation, jurisdiction, legal costs, timing, collectability, and expected recovery.
- Determine when matters should be negotiated, restructured, escalated to litigation, referred to outside counsel, settled, or recommended for write-off, partnering with Legal leadership on significant, precedent-setting, or higher-risk matters.
- Ensure recovery actions are timely, commercially reasonable, appropriately documented, and consistent with Company policies and applicable law.
- Prepare and file civil complaints in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas; participate in in-person and virtual hearings and settlement conferences; draft discovery responses; respond to subpoenas; and prepare estate claims, in coordination with Legal and as permitted based on the individual's qualifications.
- Select and manage outside counsel and other third-party recovery resources within established Company guidelines, setting expectations for strategy, timelines, budgets, reporting, and outcomes.
- Review legal invoices and evaluate outside counsel performance, including responsiveness, cycle time, cost-effectiveness, and recovery results, while maintaining an effective network of counsel across relevant jurisdictions.
- Coordinate with Asset Management, Collections, Operations, and third-party providers regarding repossession, surrender, remarketing, equipment disposition, deficiency claims, and post-disposition recovery strategies.
- Manage bankruptcy and other complex default matters in coordination with internal and external counsel, including proofs of claim, relief from stay, restructuring strategies, equipment surrender, and other creditor remedies.
- Evaluate financially distressed obligors and matters involving suspected fraud, asset concealment, fraudulent transfers, documentation issues, or other unusual circumstances, escalating concerns appropriately.
- Lead and manage a Litigation and Recovery team of approximately six to eight employees, including coaching, workload prioritization, performance management, and professional development.
- Maintain accurate reporting on exposure, matter status, strategy, expected recovery, legal spend, key dates, and next actions; provide regular updates to Credit, Finance, Legal, and senior management regarding significant matters, trends, risks, and forecasts.
- Establish and monitor meaningful measures of effectiveness, including gross and net recoveries, recovery rates, recovery versus forecast, legal expense, time to resolution, matter aging, and outside counsel performance.
- Partner across Credit, Documentation, Operations, Asset Management, Collections, Sales, Finance, and Legal to identify root causes, strengthen underwriting and servicing practices, improve recovery effectiveness, and reduce future losses.
- Build a disciplined, data-driven litigation and recovery function that balances appropriate controls with practical business judgment and consistently drives matters toward resolution.
Qualifications:- Bachelor's degree required. Legal education, training, or experience, including a JD or paralegal background, is a plus but not required.
- 7+ years of experience in commercial collections, litigation management, recovery, special assets, workout, equipment finance, commercial lending, or a related discipline.
- Equipment finance and leasing experience strongly preferred.
- Demonstrated knowledge of commercial finance documentation, secured transactions, guarantees, repossession, bankruptcy, litigation, settlements, and deficiency recovery.
- Experience managing outside counsel, legal expenses, and third-party recovery resources.
- Ability to analyze financial exposure and make practical cost-benefit decisions regarding recovery strategies.
- Strong negotiation, communication, documentation, reporting, and organizational skills.
- Ability to manage a significant caseload while distinguishing routine matters from those requiring immediate escalation.
- Strong judgment, commercial thinking, and the ability to clearly communicate risks, options, costs, and recommended actions.
- Demonstrated ability to take ownership, work with urgency and accountability, and build effective relationships across Legal, Credit, Operations, Finance, Asset Management, Collections, and Sales.
- Team leadership and performance-management experience.
The successful candidate will receive competitive compensation along with our benefit package which includes medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short and long-term disability, 401(k) with match, flexible spending, and paid time off. PEAC provides one paid day off per year to support community involvement. Celebrate you by also having off your birthday on us!
