Internationally experienced General Counsel (primarily in the manufacturing and service industries), Joseph B. (“Jody”) Hanks has extensive experience leading and contributing to:
- Commercial Transactions;
- Mergers & Acquisitions;
- Real Estate;
- Energy;
- Human Resources;
- Environmental and Safety;
- Insurance and Claims;
- Regulatory and Permitting; and
- winning Litigation strategies.
With more than 26 years of in-house and private practice experience, Jody has worked as General Counsel for a number of companies, including Service Master Company subsidiaries like TruGreen and ARS Rescue Rooter, and more recently as General Counsel for Graham Packaging, a $3 billion annual revenue global manufacturer of plastic containers and related machinery.
Jody has substantial experience working on critical contracts, customer negotiations, corporate governance, regulatory matters, and crisis and risk management strategies. At Graham Packaging alone, Jody drafted and negotiated over 1000 key customer agreements involving over $2 billion in recurring revenue, and he lead bolt-on acquisitions, divestitures and the creation of joint-ventures in excess of $500 million. Jody also has experience with SEC compliance, labor negotiations, government affairs and public relations.
Jody knows how to manage legal budgets and find ways to dramatically reduce costs or increase profitability through cross-functional management of litigation, insured claims, workers’ compensation, import/export activities, trade compliance and governmental incentives. At Graham Packaging alone, Jody and his team generated over $6.0 million in recurring annual savings by improving workers’ compensation and trade compliance activities.
Jody is known for “outside the box” thinking for difficult situations – there is a solution – it just has to be found. He brings a professional, yet comfortable demeanor to not only clients, but also in meeting directly with their customers and vendors. Jody is particularly comfortable under pressure or when there is a crisis – following the adage that “a good situation can be made better and a bad situation can be ‘less bad’.
Jody joins Mainsail Lawyers as Of Counsel/Nashville Market Leader to help expand our outsourced in-house counsel and corporate practices, helping businesses ranging in size from start-up to Fortune 50.
Jody is licensed in Tennessee and located in Nashville. He obtained his B.A. in B.B.A from The University of Kentucky and his J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School.
email: Jhanks@mainsaillawyers.com
