Blank Rome was proud to be a Silver Sponsor of the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association’s 2022 Houston Out & Proud Corporate Counsel Award Reception, which was held Wednesday, October 19, 2022, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m., at the Magnolia Hotel in Houston, Texas.
The event honored James Cowan, U.S. Head of Legal, Associate General Counsel, Litigation U.S. & Canada, at Shell USA, Inc., for his work to advance LGBTQ+ diversity in the legal profession.
ABOUT JAMES
As U.S. Head of Legal and AGC Litigation—US & Canada, Jim Cowan leads the U.S. Legal Coordination Team for Shell plc and the team handling disputes for Shell’s U.S. Downstream, Trading & Supply, and cross-business matters and for its Canadian businesses. In these capacities, Jim manages a team of 21 lawyers and legal support professionals and leads the U.S. Legal function, which is comprised of over 165 employees. Jim is also Shell USA, Inc.’s Vice President-Legal and sits on its board of directors. He is an executive sponsor for Shell USA’s LGBTQ+ employee resource group, and he leads a mentoring circle of emerging LGBTQ+ leaders. In addition, he sits on the Shell USA country leadership team and is part of the sub-committee of senior leaders responsible for developing and implementing Shell USA’s 2022–23 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Plan, which added LGBTQ+ as one of four focus areas alongside enablement/disability, veterans, and race/ethnicity. Jim leads the U.S. legal team’s DEI and pro bono / community service committees, two teams totaling more than thirty legal professionals who passionately deliver invigorating internal programming and impactful external service to the community. Outside of Shell, Jim serves on the executive committee of the board of directors for the Houston Ballet and is a former president of the board of directors of Stages Repertory Theatre in Houston. He represents Shell USA on the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity and the Law Committee of the American Petroleum Institute. He is also a member of the in-house task force of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration.
To learn more, please visit the event webpage.
