CARLA POWERS HERRON

 

                                                           

                                               

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

 

Group Litigation Counsel, Royal Dutch Shell, 01/2005 - present

Associate General Counsel – Litigation, Shell Oil Company, 12/2000 – present

(Current assignment includes two positions)

 

Responsible for litigation risk strategies, regulatory and financial legal contingency processes (reserving/reporting/disclosure) and specific significant litigation/disputes for Royal Dutch/Shell (RDS) group of companies worldwide.

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  • Interface with RDS Executive Committee, RDS Board, Audit Committee of RDS Board, Finance, and external auditors.  Regularly present to the Royal Dutch Shell plc Board of Directors
  • Developed and delivered regulatory investigation and litigation training programs to senior RDS executives
  • Developed Group-wide disputes matter management system, risk analysis templates, and case reporting processes.  Trained lawyers around the world on litigation management, risk assessment, and financial reporting
  • Instituted rotation assignment program for overseas litigation professionals within Shell to intern with US litigation team
  • Developed and implemented records management and e-discovery processes and strategies

 

Responsible for significant US litigation and discovery management; lead team of 27 in-house attorneys (including three senior managers and three team leads), 30 paralegals, project managers, and administrative assistants, contract staff, and 100+ external firms.   

 

Shook, Hardy & Bacon, L.L.P., 7/1995 – 12/2000

Houston, Texas office

Equity/Founding Partner of Houston office

 

Managed teams of attorneys representing major energy, and pharmaceutical clients in complex litigation. Served as first chair trial counsel. 

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  • Lead counsel for Koch Industries in MDL 1244 (lease oil antitrust)
  • Texas trial counsel in Fen-Phen litigation
  • Houston trial/managing counsel in breast implant litigation
  • Lead counsel for Koch Industries/Charles Koch in Howard Marshall/Anna Nicole Smith litigation
  • First chair trial counsel in two multi-million dollar business fraud trials

 

Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Martin, 12/1981 – 6/1995

Houston, Texas  Equity Partner 10/1983 - 6/1995 (first female partner); Chair, Litigation Section 1989- 1995; Associate 12/1981-10/1983

 

Managed teams of attorneys representing mid-size businesses in major, complex litigation.  Argued twice to Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, twice to Fifth Circuit, twice to Texas Courts of Appeal.  Recognized in Houston legal community as leading securities litigator.

o    Lead counsel, customer parties, MDL 644, ContiCommodities Securities Litigation

o    First chair trial counsel, Houston Municipal Employees Pension System securities litigation

o    First chair trial counsel in numerous business fraud cases, securities arbitrations, bankruptcy adversary proceedings 

 

Andrews & Kurth, 4/1979 – 11/1981

Houston, Texas

Litigation Associate

 

Attorney on antitrust, securities, and commercial litigation teams. Served as first chair trial counsel on small personal injury, property damage, and condemnation cases.

o    Howard Hughes Estate

o    Corrugated Container Antitrust Litigation

o    Offshore Marine Antitrust Litigation

 

Law Offices of James R. Lee, 5/1978 – 3/1979

Houston, Texas

Litigation Associate

 

EDUCATION

 

J.D., Baylor University School of Law, Waco, Texas - 05/1978

Order of Barristers; Secretary-Treasurer, freshman and mid-law classes

Academic scholarship; numerous professional and academic honors/activities 

 

B.A., Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana - 11/1975

Major: speech Minors: English/history

Graduated summa cum laude; numerous academic and service honors 

Full academic scholarship

 

PROFESSIONAL TEACHING/SPEAKING

 

Fifteen years teaching and educating in a wide variety of forums for diverse audiences internationally

 

o    University of Houston Law Center, adjunct professor (mass torts, trial advocacy, civil procedure) - 10 years

o    National Institute for Trial Advocacy, faculty member - 4 programs

o    Emory University School of Law trial advocacy program, faculty member 

o    American Bar Association, annual meeting panelist - 5 programs

o    State Bar of Texas, speaker, writer and panelist - 4 programs

o    International Association of Defense Counsel, speaker – 8 programs

o    Institute for Transnational Arbitration, panelist and luncheon speaker

o    International Bar Association, speaker – 4 panels

o    University of Texas at Austin Law School, speaker

o    International Law Symposium, speaker

o    Houston Bar Association, speaker – numerous programs

o    Lexis-Mealey Roundtable, speaker/participant

o    CPR Institute for Conflict Prevention/Resolution, frequent speaker

o    Bloomberg/Fulbright & Jaworski program, speaker

o    Defense Research Institute, speaker

o    Lawyers for Civil Justice Reform, speaker

o    South Texas College of Law, speaker - 2 programs

o    Texas Association of Defense Counsel, speaker - 4 programs

o    Corporate Counsel/Legal Issues in Energy Industry, speaker

o    International Academy of Mediators, speaker

o    Vault Career Library, Q & A Legal Women Leaders 2006

o    Global Arbitration Review, Fall 2007, interview 

o    National Black Law Students' Association Annual Meeting, speaker

o    Rocky Mountain Mineral Law, Strategic Risk Management Institute, speaker

o    Numerous Shell in-house presentations on various litigation, risk management, securities, and regulatory issues in Europe, Africa, Asia, Middle East, South America, North America.

 

LEGAL WRITING

 

o    Carla Herron, Graham Kerin Blair, David Brakebill, “Getting a Fair Shake from the Long Arm”, ACCA Docket, Vol. 21, No. 6, June 2003

o    Carla Herron and Kelli DeGeeter, “Can Texas Escape the

Unavoidably Unsafe Medicine of Comment k by Adopting §8 of the     Proposed Restatement Third of Torts?” 49 Baylor L.R.1 1997

o    Carla Herron and LeAnn Morrissey, “Can a Class That Isn't a

Class Still Be a Class?”  ABA Class Action Newsletter, Spring 1997, Vol. 7 

o    Carla Herron and Brian Casey, “Recent Developments in Complex Litigation Management”, Texas Association of Defense Counsel Fall Seminar, 1998

o    Carla Herron and Brian Casey, “An Introduction to Texas Class

 Action Law”, ABA Section of Litigation, 1999 Annual Meeting

Program Materials, pp. 389-406

 

CREDENTIALS, PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

 

Admitted to the Texas Bar May, 1978 (at age 22); admitted to practice in numerous US District and Circuit Courts, US Court of Claims, US Supreme Court

Texas Bar Foundation - Life Fellow; Houston Bar Foundation - Fellow

Texas Appleseed Board of Directors

Shell Oil Company 2008 United Way Campaign Chair

Shell Oil Company 2007 United Way Campaign, Vice-Chair

CPR Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution, Co-Chair Diversity Task Force

CPR Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution, Co-Chair Executive Committee

State Bar of Texas Task Force on Retention of Women and Minorities Vice-Chair

Texas Association of Defense Counsel Director

International Association of Defense Counsel, Vice-Chair International Corporate Committee

American Bar Association Class Actions and Derivative Suits Committee, Professional Liability and Mass Tort Subcommittees member

Houston Bar Association, CLE and Minority Opportunities Committees

Texas Bar Foundation, nominating committee

Sixth Annual Energy Litigation Conference, Co-Chair

Seventh Annual Energy Litigation Conference, Chair

Texas Super Lawyer 2004 - 2006

Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (London), International Commission member

Houston area United Way Women’s Initiative, corporate campaign chair, 2009

Alexis de Tocqueville Society member

Board member, Cardigan Mountain School, Canaan, New Hampshire

 

“THINK TANK” PARTICIPATION

 

CNN/TIME/Fortune/Shell Principal Voices, participant

Leading Legal Innovation, USC Gould School of Law (Law/Economics Center), participant, 12/08

Table Talk 2010, University of Houston Women’s Studies Program

 

PERSONAL

 

One son, age 15

Interests:  Travel off-the-beaten track, creative writing, gardening, photography

Author:  Matches in the Gas Tank (publication date 4Q09, Bright Sky Press)