Counsel/Senior Counsel

Chevron • Houston, TX

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

This Senior Counsel or Counsel position is in the Downstream, Chemicals and Midstream (DCM) Law Department and supports Shipping. The lawyers in this group provide a complete array of legal services for the Shipping Company and Marine Supply & Trading and assist other enterprise counsel around the globe as maritime law subject matter experts. The position reports to Supervising Counsel, Shipping and Supply & Trading.

Requirements

• Must have legal authorization to work in the U.S. on a full-time basis.
• JD or equivalent advanced law degree from an accredited law school and admitted to practice law (at least 5 years since graduation) in a U.S. state or the District of Columbia, England & Wales, or able to comply with requirements for in-house counsel.
• Minimum 5 years of directly relevant maritime law experience.
• Thorough understanding of legal and commercial issues related to the marine aspects of international and domestic oil and gas operations.
• Strong academic background and a commercial, problem-solving mindset.
• Self-starter with ability to deal with a high and diverse workload, including working on several issues in parallel with excellent attention to detail.
• High ethical standards and ability to maintain strict confidentiality.
• Excels at collaborating with business clients, other in-house counsel, outside counsel and support staff.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Fluent written and spoken English.
• High attention to detail and an adept commercial and creative thinker who learns quickly and can work productively in a fast-paced team environment.

Nice To Haves

• Qualified in England & Wales, with experience in the London market.
• Experience in drafting, negotiating and advising upon charter parties (Time, Spot and Bareboat such as, Shelltime, ASBATANKVOY, BARECON and BIMCO forms and clauses).
• Experience in Supply and Trading, e.g. the sale and purchase of oil and gas in international trade.
• Experience in drafting and advising on LNG charters.
• Experience in International and domestic Shipping litigation and arbitration including commercial disputes.
• Familiar with maritime aspects of crude oil, product and LNG sale and purchase agreements and INCOTERMS.
• Experience negotiating and drafting vessel construction contracts.
• Experience in negotiating FSO, FPSO, vessel sale agreements, and cargo transportation agreements and providing support for Upstream projects.
• Experience in advising on demurrage issues.
• Conversant in standard vessel sale and purchase and vessel financing documentation and transactions.
• In-house experience with an international shipowner and/or oil and gas company.

Responsibilities

• Maritime contract negotiations (e.g. ship sale, purchase, registration and recycling; vessel financing, chartering, shipbuilding, ship repair, towage, pilotage, salvage and other marine transactions).
• Chartering, voyage management and marine assurance/ship vetting advice.
• Work with P&I Clubs, marine underwriters and classification societies
• Advise Traders on marine related elements of sale contracts, transportation agreements, terminal agreements, off-take agreements and other Supply & Trading agreements.
• Provide training and advice on compliance issues such as: U.S. & international trade laws, antitrust/anticompetition laws, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the UK Bribery Act.
• Advice on international and domestic treaty, statutory and regulatory matters including environmental, safety, labor, cabotage, and similar maritime issues.
• Advice and case management of maritime claims, both under charterparties and sales contracts (e.g. potential demurrage, cargo damage and/or contamination, collision, and personal injury claims etc).
• Interpreting and advising on international and domestic terminal/port/offshore regulations.
• Advice on risk management, marine insurance and commercial law advice relating to international and domestic oil and gas terminals.
• General legal advice as needed by Chevron Shipping and its international and U.S. affiliates.
• Work with Upstream, Downstream and affiliate counsel to provide maritime law support to their projects and matters worldwide.
• Coordinate with Corporate Law attorneys on subsidiary governance, compliance, environmental and other matters.
• Availability to answer emergent and emergency issues during out of office hours.
• Advice on operations of an international and domestic fleet of oil, product, and LNG tankers.
• Advice on safety and environmental laws, foreign and domestic, related to the business of oil, chemical and gas marine transportation.
• Availability to travel globally and without notice to provide advice on emergency response/crisis management and serve as a member of the emergency response organization of Shipping and the enterprise in addition to scheduled travel to support above responsibilities.

Benefits

• Relocation may be considered.
• Relocation from international locations is possible, but expatriate assignments will not be considered.
• Chevron regrets that it is unable to sponsor employment Visas or consider individuals on time-limited Visa status for this position.
• Chevron is an Equal Opportunity employer.
• All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religious creed, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin or ancestry, age, mental or physical disability, medical condition, reproductive health decision-making, military or veteran status, political preference, marital status, citizenship, genetic information or other characteristics protected by applicable law.
• We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.
• Chevron participates in E-Verify in certain locations as required by law.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior