Jody spent nearly 30 years of her career with Toyota Motor North America, where she served as Vice President and Deputy General Counsel over business and product liability litigation.
While at Toyota, she worked on or oversaw nearly every type of legal issue that automotive companies and many other major corporations face, with a particular emphasis on class action litigation, government investigations, and crisis management. Jody was one of the lead in–house lawyers who navigated Toyota through the unintended acceleration crisis and has led the defense teams in multiple multi–district class actions, government investigations (DOJ, NHTSA, EPA, and other federal and state agencies), and the Takata air bag crisis.
Additionally, Jody led Toyota’s defense teams in many high–profile dealer cases, product recalls, and government investigations. For three decades, she provided trusted counsel to Toyota’s top executives and other leaders in the areas of product distribution, logistics, state dealer franchise laws, customs and export control, marketing agreements, product planning, and tax and finance, among others. She led the Toyota legal team that established Toyota’s Scion Division, and she managed all of Toyota de Puerto Rico’s legal affairs. She also led the legal team that established Toyota’s sales subsidiary in Mexico and managed all legal affairs in Mexico.
