Litigation Management

day

A Corporate Perspective
Cisselon Nichols Hurd
Senior Litigation Counsel
Shell Oil Company

At Shell Oil Company, Diversity and Inclusiveness (D&I) has long been a company priority. Addressed and reinforced at the highest levels of the organization, D&I is a key part of the company’s corporate culture. Shell has a focused and mature program with the goal of continuing to make progress and create more opportunities to work with minority- and women-owned (MWBE) law firms.

Supporting the company’s longstanding value of working with MWBE firms, Curtis Frasier, newly appointed general counsel of Shell Legal US, embraces the company’s D&I goals and activities. In addition, the company’s Executive Committee recently made a commitment to refresh the company’s D&I efforts for 2011 and beyond. Shell further demonstrated its commitment to supporting MWBE firms by joining the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms’ (NAMWOLF) 2011 Inclusion Initiative, whose 17 members set a goal of collectively spending $70 million with MWBE law firms in 2011.

As one of the first major corporations to address the drop in the number of minority-owned law firms serving corporate America since the 1980s, Shell and other leading companies launched a spend effort that exceeded their combined goal of spending $16 million on minority-owned law firms. Shell and these companies saw the effort as a call to action to reverse the trend in the years ahead.

For its D&I efforts, Shell Legal US was awarded the 2010 Employer of Choice Award by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, and the National Bar Association’s Corporate Counsel Section named Shell 2011 Corporation of the Year.

“Our company supports sustained prog-
ress,” says Cisselon Nichols Hurd, senior
litigation counsel at Shell and chair of the
D&I team for Shell Legal US. “We hope all
corporations realize the value of working
consistently and long-term with women-
and minority-owned law firms to achieve
their goals and to develop relationships.”
Relationship-building is one of the key ele-
ments of the company’s successful D&I pro-
gram. Shell has established and strength-
ened strong, mutually beneficial working
relationships with many MWBE firms over
the years. The in-house corporate attor-
neys at Shell have robust relationships with
MWBE law firms, which drive much of the
external D&I efforts at Shell Legal.

Regardless of the size, complexity or location of the matter, Shell considers working with diverse firms because they are just as talented as their larger, majority-owned counterparts while offering competitive rates, Hurd says. The company has made it easy for its attorneys to connect with the right MWBE firm by providing an interactive website that features a U.S. map with vetted diverse firms. Currently, more than 50 MWBE law firms are in the company’s internal directory, and each firm is identified by the state in which it has offices, along with the firm’s capabilities.

In order to be considered for the MWBE program at Shell, firms must first be certified by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council for women-owned firms and/or the National Minority Supplier Development Council for minority-owned firms.

To maintain the D&I program and ensure its success, Shell Legal hosts “MWBE Round Robin” events in which Shell in-house counsel interview MWBE outside counsel with the goal of fostering relationships between the two. During the most recent event, 32 MWBE firms from across the country participated, and several reported an immediate increase in the number of Shell matters assigned to their firm.

“Diversity and inclusiveness are deeply held values and priorities at all levels of Shell,” Hurd says. “It’s what attracted many of us to join Shell, and it is necessary for successful growth and new partnerships.”