FedEx Express's Former Litigation Chief Connie Lewis Lensing Joins Bradley's Nashville Office

Bradley is pleased to announce that Connie Lewis Lensing has joined the firm’s Nashville office as Counsel in the Litigation Practice Group.

After almost 30 years of service, Ms. Lensing recently departed FedEx Express, the world’s largest express transportation company, as its Senior Vice President responsible for all U.S. litigation as well as leading the Environmental, Risk Management and Compliance groups within the legal department. Ms. Lensing has extensive experience handling litigation defense and prevention, as well as domestic employment matters. At FedEx Express, she built and led a team of more than 200 professionals. She pioneered the “in-housing” of litigation and trial responsibility for corporate legal departments and is a nationally recognized corporate legal innovator. Her FedEx Express responsibilities included all U.S. and U.S. Virgin Islands litigation, including employment, commercial, benefits, class actions, wage and hour, antitrust, government actions, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charges. Ms. Lensing was responsible for FedEx offices in Memphis, Tenn., and Orange County, Calif.

“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,” said Bradley Nashville Office Managing Partner Lela Hollabaugh. “Our clients will greatly benefit from Connie’s extensive relationships with leaders at Fortune 100 companies; business and corporate organizations in key insurance, life sciences, energy and transportation 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.”

“Connie has a fantastic track record of mentoring younger attorneys in the development of their career. We look forward to including her insights and experience in this area to further support Bradley’s mentoring efforts,” said Kim Martin, chair of Bradley’s Litigation Practice Group.

Ms. Lensing said, “I am excited to join Bradley and its acclaimed attorneys with whom I have had the privilege of working over many years during my time with FedEx and in service to national and international legal organizations. I look forward to helping the firm’s clients accomplish their business and litigation goals by drawing upon my experience in the federal courts. I also plan to join with my Bradley colleagues to continue working on important civic and civil justice-related initiatives in my role as an officer of numerous civic and industry organizations.”

Ms. Lensing currently serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors and as Chair of the Executive Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform, which is the Chamber’s primary policy advocacy body. She also serves as a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee and as Secretary Treasurer of Lawyers for Civil Justice. In addition, she is a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the National Civil Rights Museum. Along with numerous other Bradley attorneys, Ms. Lensing is an active member of the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC), the preeminent invitation-only global legal organization for attorneys who represent corporate and insurance interests. For the IADC, she also previously served on the Board of Directors as Corporate Vice President, and as Dean of the IADC’s Corporate Counsel College.

A Fellow of the both the Memphis and Tennessee bar foundations and a former board member of the Memphis Bar Foundation, Ms. Lensing is a past member of the Tennessee Trial Court Vacancy Commission and a past president of the Leo Bearman, Sr. American Inn of Court. She is a past board member for the Campbell Clinic Foundation, which is devoted to community healthcare, research, and education. Additionally, she has served on the FedEx Officers’ Diversity Board and as a vice president and board member of the International Association of Women in Aviation. 

Ms. Lensing is a recipient of the University of Memphis Alumni Association’s 2019 Pillars of Excellence Award. Her other past awards include the University of Arkansas 2016 Citation of Distinguished Alumni, the Women’s Law Student Association’s 2016 Gayle Pettus Pontz Award for Outstanding Woman in Law, and the Minority Counsel Association’s Employer of Choice Award. In addition, she is a five-time recipient of FedEx’s most prestigious award, the Five Star, including the CEO award, and was named to the Memphis Business Journal’s 2013 Memphis Super Women in Business.

Ms. Lensing received her J.D. from the University of Arkansas School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Arkansas.