Legal Counsel at Shell Petroleum Development Company

Job ID: 93408BR
Location: Port Harcourt, Rivers

Purpose

• The role has been established as part of the Legal Services Global Litigation, Nigeria organization for the purpose of managing litigations (which term includes arbitration and other adversarial legal proceedings) in house.
• This role will be responsible for the day-to-day management of assigned environmental litigation matters in Nigeria.

Accountabilities

• As Legal Counsel, this role will be accountable to the Team Lead – Environmental litigation in Nigeria for the following:
• Management of the assigned litigation matters by providing cost effective and efficient litigation legal services to meet the litigation and dispute resolution needs and priorities of the company including:
• Management and risk evaluation of litigation and provision of advice and opinion to legal and business managers with respect to litigation and sundry issues being managed;
• developing a litigation strategy in each of the relevant assigned litigations including management of legacy litigation arising from spills or alleged pollutions
• Management of interface with external counsel to ensure the provision of efficient, cost-effective and result oriented services.
• Implementation of the company’s litigation management framework including:
• Reporting of significant litigation risks within the applicable control framework;
• Maintenance of the matter management database of all litigation matters assigned in the litigation management system;
• Promoting litigation risk awareness in the relevant Businesses being supported
• Will be involved in the provision of relevant litigation related reports and interface with relevant teams in the company including the Finance team and the external auditors regarding legal contingent liabilities and provisioning arising from litigation matters;
• Providing required support and advice in communications with external parties to ensure that Company’s right and position in ongoing or threatened litigation matters are preserved and not compromised.

Challenges:

• Operate within a highly complex and litigious legal environment with increasingly challenging regulatory environmental framework and be responsible for managing cases spread across local geographical boundaries including high profile environmental matters which may also require a good amount of travelling.
• Managing all activity related to litigation challenges, including case assessment, strategy development, client communication, management of external counsel, recommendation of provisions and disclosures, settlement recommendations and compliance with Shell policies and procedures relating to settlement authorities, and management of reputational issues;
• High level of interface with staff and management on the litigation matters including providing senior leaders in Nigeria with strategic legal advice to avoid, minimize and manage litigation risks in Nigeria;
• Liaising with and coordinating input from several stakeholders and functions within the Company including Communications, Business and Government relations, and External Relations in the management of the Litigation.

Requirements

• This position requires a seasoned lawyer with at least 6-8 years of post qualification experience,4 years minimum experience in hands-on management of high-level and complex litigation matters.
• Excellent litigation, analytical, negotiation, and problem solving skills with ability to spot legal issues and develop cost effective legal solutions.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills and the ability to interface with Senior Management and External counsel with due regard for the needs of the business.
• High level of professional integrity and strong leadership and people management skills with capacity to work independently and as part of the team
• Ability to work under pressure, prioritize multiple competing activities and remain positive in challenging circumstances.
• Capability to learn new areas of law and show flexibility and pragmatism in deploying legal skills to achieve business objectives.
• Result driven self-starter with good business partnering skills and customer focus
• Good understanding of the Petroleum industry in general and its legal framework in Nigeria including familiarity with common law principles and contract law is required.