Connie Lensing, former chief of litigation at FedEx (Courtesy photo)

FedEx Express litigation chief Connie Lensing has retired after 30 years and is bringing her vast in-house legal experience and pioneering spirit to the Nashville office of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings.

At FedEx, Lensing joined as an attorney and rose to senior vice president responsible for all U.S. litigation as well as leading the environmental, risk management and compliance groups within the legal department. She said she oversaw a staff of over 200 professionals.

A statement from Lela Hollabaugh, Bradley Nashville office managing partner, said, "It is a thrill and tremendous honor to welcome Connie to Bradley as she enters a new phase of her career as a litigator and innovator in private practice."

Hollabaugh said clients would benefit from Lensing's "extensive relationships with leaders at Fortune 100 companies; business and corporate organizations in key  … industries; and law and business leaders in the Memphis area where she has been based with FedEx. With her experience arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court, Connie is a great addition to our deep bench of trial lawyers."

Lensing recalled that 30 years ago most companies sent litigation to outside counsel. She helped change that.

"When I came to FedEx Express, I was charged with helping to bring litigation in-house—not just managing litigation but handling it," Lensing told Corporate Counsel. "I was one of five litigators when I started. There are about 50 now."

She explained that FedEx Express in Memphis is the transportation arm of the corporation, and the litigation team was based in that unit. "But we also handled all U.S. litigation for corporate and services," she said, including class actions, regulatory, transactions, employment and environmental work.

Senior management treated the legal department as a business partner in every way, she said, "and they allowed litigators to do our job. They weren't afraid to try a case if we were right."

Lensing said she turned to outside counsel when a case required special expertise, such as patent or antitrust, but always as a partner with her team.

Besides being a pioneer in in-house litigation, Lensing has been a leader for women in law.

She recalled a time when the climate was not as inviting for women lawyers. "I lost my first job before I started because I was a woman," she said.

She explained that two managing partners of a mid-sized firm, which she declines to name, recruited her from the University of Arkansas School of Law. But when it came time for her to join the firm, "the senior partner who was over them said, 'No. No woman will ever be in this law firm.'"

That would never happen today, Lensing said. She added she received several calls from men at other law firms who heard about what had happened and offered her a job, but she eventually ended up in Memphis.

Lensing said when she joined FedEx, it already had more diversity with women and minorities than she had seen anywhere else. "And we have greatly increased it," she added.

Asked about in-house litigation trends, Lensing said FedEx opened a legal office in California because lawsuits in that state have become "numerous and complex."

Lensing also chairs the executive committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform and is the vice chair of its board. That work includes "leveling the playing field" for business, educating the public and seeking legal reform where it's needed, she said.

All of 13 days into private practice, she said she is enjoying her time with Bradley. The firm wants her to do some women's initiatives and mentor less experienced lawyers, among other things.

"Connie has a fantastic track record of mentoring younger attorneys in the development of their career," said Kim Martin, chair of Bradley's litigation practice. "We look forward to including her insights and experience in this area."

At the request of FedEx, Lensing also has agreed to lead a litigation team of in-house and outside counsel working on a securities case.

She said she plans to remain involved in several outside organizations, especially the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, which she calls "one of my passions."