Attorneys at Houston-based Marathon Oil Co. have been involved in pro bono work for years, but it wasn’t until 2008 when then-general counsel Bill Schwind charged a committee of senior attorneys with instituting a formal program.
Now, just more than four years after its inception, the company’s voluntary program consistently sees participation rates of at least 75 percent, and total pro bono hours have increased every year. “Once you’ve done it and you realize you can do it, and you get that reward of feeling like you helped somebody, it’s natural to go back,” says, Sylvia Kerrigan, Marathon’s executive vice president, general counsel and secretary.
