Women's History Spotlight: The First Black Woman To Become The Chief Legal Officer At Toyota

Sandra Phillips, who joined Toyota in 2012, is the new general counsel and chief legal officer at Toyota Motors Sales USA. Phillips is the first black women to hold such a position at Toyota (and what we believe to be in the auto industry). Phillips recently served as vice president and assistant general counsel at the automaker. 

In her new assignment, Phillips will be responsible for legal operations, legal technology and coordinating the representation of Toyota's affiliates in North America.

Phillips joined Toyota's legal team at a time when the company was bombard with class action suits for alleged sudden acceleration suits. According to one of our internal resources, her background is in class-action suits, product liability and government investigations.

This new promotion goes into effect on April 1. She is expected to be right at home when the corporate office relocates to the suburbs of Dallas. Phillips earned a undergraduate and graduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin. And she worked at a law firm in Houston, before accepting her first assignment at Toyota Motors Sales USA current headquarters in California.