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Sylvia Kerrigan

Sylvia Kerrigan
Assistant General Counsel for Litigation,
Human Resources and Health/Environment/
Safety/Security Law
Marathon Oil Company
Houston, Texas


Ms. Kerrigan’s organization is responsible for providing guidance on a wide range of legal and compliance matters, including managing and reporting on a docket of a1,400 claims, supporting the strategic and policy-making functions for human resources, health, environmental, safety and security clients, and directing the regulatory and investigatory aspects of the corporate emergency response team. Ms. Kerrigan has initiated several recent process improvement projects on such issues as the contingent workforce, enterprise-wide content management, and the trend toward increased governmental enforcement and potential criminalization of various corporate activities. She has been with the Company since 1995, and in her current position since 2001.

Ms. Kerrigan previously worked at the United Nations Security Council’s Commission d’Indemnisation in Geneva, Switzerland (UNCC) for two years, and the law firm of Bell & Murphy for five years. At the UNCC, Ms. Kerrigan served as the Senior Legal Officer and Team Leader responsible for arbitrating the losses sustained by international energy companies following Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait. In that capacity, she led numerous fact-finding missions to the Middle East, and was instrumental in the decision to award $15.9 billion to Kuwait Petroleum Corporation for its damaged reservoirs and lost production. At Bell & Murphy, Ms. Kerrigan counseled energy, construction, manufacturing and transportation clients on complex commercial, international and insurance matters. During law school, she was selected to clerk for the Texas Supreme Court.

Ms. Kerrigan is the Chairman-elect of the State Bar of Texas International Law Section. She participates in several state and national community service groups, such as the American Leadership Forum and Leadership Texas. She has served on the Board of Directors for various professional organizations, including Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts, the Houston Bar Association, and the National Association of Minority and Woman-Owned Law Firms. Ms. Kerrigan has been voted one of Texas Monthly’s “Texas Super Lawyers” every year since 2004; was honored as one of the state’s top in-house lawyers by Texas Lawyer in 2005; and was awarded the General Counsel Forum’s Magna Stella award in 2006.

Ms. Kerrigan graduated from Southwestern University, cum laude, with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, political economy and English, and received her Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Texas.