Corporate Counsel Volunteers

The Texas Access to Justice Commission, in conjunction with the Texas General Counsel Forum, presented the legal department of ExxonMobil Corporation with the second Magna Stella Pro Bono Award. The Pro Bono Award was created in 2008 to recognize corporate legal departments that promote pro bono legal services within their organization and within the corporate structure at large.

Texas Supreme Court Justice Paul Green presented the Magna Stella Pro Bono Award at the Texas General Counsel Forum’s annual awards dinner Nov. 5 at La Cantera Resort in San Antonio. Theodore Frois, General Counsel – Upstream Companies of ExxonMobil, accepted the award on behalf of ExxonMobil’s legal department.

The ExxonMobil legal department was chosen because of its outstanding commitment to legal aid. The ExxonMobil legal department actively participates in pro bono activities through the Houston Bar Association’s Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program (HVLP), Texas Community Building with Attorney Resources (Texas C-BAR), Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts, and Texas Appleseed. ExxonMobil attorneys have also partnered with Akin Gump LLP to provide legal clinics at the Houston Women’s Home and the Houston Area Women’s Center.

“The corporate legal department at ExxonMobil has set a high standard for citizenship and professionalism in their pro bono service to needy Texans. Giving legal services to those who cannot afford it can save women and children from abuse, make new jobs possible, and make sure people get what they are entitled to,” said Harry M. Reasoner, Chair of the Texas Access to Justice Commission. “These lawyers are to be applauded for their efforts to make access to justice a reality.”

Over the past year, ExxonMobil attorneys and administrative support staff from all Houston area offices regularly volunteered to staff numerous HVLP Legal Advice Clinics, including Drive Time Clinics, Veterans Clinics, HIV/AIDS Clinics, and Wills Clinics. In 2008, ExxonMobil personnel contributed in excess of 400 hours of volunteer time associated with its clinic participation.

Additionally, ExxonMobil collaborated with HVLP and Texas C-BAR to form the Corporate Counsel Initiative, which provides non-profit organizations with access to legal counsel. Through the program, ExxonMobil, partnering with Fulbright & Jaworski LLP, furnishes day to day legal counseling to Avenue CDC, a non-profit economic development corporation, which provides low-income housing to Houston citizens. Several Community Counsel Partnerships have been established as part of this initiative.