Tom Saybolt

• J.D. Fordham University School of Law '73
• B.A. Fordham College '70

Mr. Tom Saybolt served as the Associate General Counsel – Global Business Operations of Ford Motor Company until his retirement at the end of 2003.  In that position, he had responsibility for the 65 lawyers worldwide who provided day-to-day legal advice to the Company’s global operations outside of the United States, including Europe, Mexico, Canada, South America, China and Asia-Pacific.  

During his thirty year career with Ford, he handled a wide array of regulatory and environmental matters, corporate acquisitions, joint ventures and divestitures, and international business transactions.  During his career, he served as the Vice President – General Counsel of Ford of Europe, the largest foreign affiliate of Ford, where he oversaw a major restructuring of the Company’s operations in Europe, the integration of Jaguar into the Ford family, and the push into emerging markets like Russia and Turkey.

He was the lead lawyer in the divestiture of nearly $9 billion in assets of Ford’s USL Capital financial services enterprise, the restructuring and eventual sale of its tractor and steel businesses, and the rewrite of its global purchase and supply contracts with its worldwide suppliers.  In addition to his extensive expertise in business transactions, Tom has a wealth of experience in the international trade area and matters involving the European Union. 

Upon his retirement from Ford, he has continued work for the Company involving the divestiture of its glass business.  He has also served as a visiting and adjunct professor at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School teaching courses on Business Organizations, International Trade, International Law and NAFTA.  A long-time “news junky”, he is notorious for starting his classes with an update of timely news items to make the class a bit more interesting.