Richard Horstman is Marathon’s Man

By Mark Curriden, Senior Legal Affairs Writer
mark.curriden@texaslawbook.net

February 12, 2012 – Richard Horstman is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading energy lawyers.

For three decades, he held strategic positions in the legal department at Marathon Oil, where he is now the assistant general counsel overseeing all international legal operations.

Pro bono was not on Horstman’s radar for 29 years.

“I always felt I did enough law at work,” he says. “I focused my public service and community work on non-legal matters.”

Then, four years ago, then-Marathon Oil General Counsel Bill Schwind instituted a formal pro bono program in the energy company’s corporate legal department. Catholic Charities made a presentation highlighting the legal needs of immigrant children in the U.S.

Horstman decided to tackle a single case. According to colleagues, it changed his life. Ten cases later, the pro bono program has no bigger supporter.

“Pro bono certainly changed my view of myself as a lawyer,” he says. “I realized that I am one of the few who can do this because of my expertise as a lawyer.

“I regret that I didn’t start doing pro bono earlier.”

Horstman’s pro bono cases are heartbreakers. He’s represented kids as young as three. They are from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Most have been horribly abused and neglected. They are housed in overcrowded shelters with no family or friends and facing removal proceedings.

He recently represented a 12-year-old El Salvadorian girl who was abandoned by her parents when she was a baby. She was repeatedly raped at age six. Finally, a family member paid a coyote to help her flee to the U.S.

The girl was caught and detained in Houston. Immigration officials were planning to send her back.

“If these kids are sent back, they will likely be killed,” he says. “The kids don’t have a chance without a lawyer. These cases are very complex with many hurdles to clear.”

The cases can take a year or more to obtain legal status and establish permanent residency for the kids. Of the 10 cases Horstman has handled, he has won eight and has two pending.

Horstman says a handful of law firms, including Baker Botts, Dykema, and King & Spalding, have provided him and the pro bono clients significant assistance.

“I’ve been impressed with the obvious compassion with which these lawyers worked on the cases,” he says. “Baker Botts went way out of its way to make sure that a 14-year-old kid was connected to the benefit programs she needed.

“These kids are so truthful and considerate and they are just so happy and grateful that lawyers are there to help them,” he says.

For the past four years, Horstman has put in about 230 pro bono hours annually – about five times more than most lawyers in Texas. He spends his vacations and holidays helping in Central America.

“All professionals, especially lawyers, have a tendency to pigeon hole themselves,” he says. “Pro bono helps broaden a lawyer’s horizon and give them a better comprehension and appreciation for the world in which we live.”

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