Besides having the world's fourth largest share of the oil market, energy giant ChevronTexaco also has a small army of 190 lawyers. ChevronTexaco's presence in over 180 countries as well as the complicated legal nature of the oil production and refinement industry creates plenty of litigation work for its lawyers. The legal department often brings in outside counsel to assist in litigation matters; Filice, Brown; King & Spalding; Pillsbury Winthrop; Strong Pipkin are among the company's favorites. And whatever positions are not filled by litigation attorneys at ChevronTexaco are left for intellectual property and tax lawyers.
In 2002, when ChevronTexaco's Vice President and General Counsel, Harvey Hinman, announced his plans to retire, ChevronTexaco knew it had to hire a top lawyer to fill his position. After some months of deliberation, ChevronTexaco decided on Charles A. James, an Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division at the DOJ. Since his arrival, one of Charles James' toughest challenges has been to improve the management of the corporation's litigation caseload. With $60 million a year going mostly towards outside litigation work, the legal team at ChevronTexaco is looking to reduce costs in 2004 by bringing some of its work in-house. James has tasked an eight-attorney team to examine ways to increase productivity for both in-house and outside counsel work.
Despite the unglamorous work with gas and oil, the general corporate atmosphere at ChevronTexaco Corp. gets high marks from all its employees. The San Ramon headquarters are described as beautiful and the atmosphere as pleasant and considerate. Additionally, company attorneys often get to do some significant paid traveling to distant places such as Bahrain and Indonesia. One recently dismissed litigation case involved plaintiffs in Ecuador. Additionally, the company's unique 9/80 plan at ChevronTexaco allows workaholic employees to squeeze 80 hours in 9 days and take an extra day off.
Since its merger in 2001, ChevronTexaco has been making increasing efforts to promote diversity in spite of heavy layoffs and few new positions. While Chevron and Texaco separately did not set any records with their previous diversity efforts, the merged corporation has increased both its minority and female percentages in the total workforce. According to ChevronTexaco's website, the minority and female percentages now each stand at over 30% of total employees. The company has also significantly improved its diversity among its official- and managerial-level employees.
Although future positions in law firms may be precarious when a lawyer undertakes an in-house position, lawyers at ChevronTexaco get well compensated for their efforts. On top of corporate salaries and the usual office frills, ChevronTexaco offers its employees a stock purchase plan. And considering the $1 billion in profit and $90 billion in revenues last fiscal year, taking advantage of stock options is probably a very smart idea. The company will also pay for a portion of higher education, provide benefits for domestic partners, and contribute towards alleviating adoption fees.
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