Page 41 - CCCA63_2008

CCCA_V2No3_Profiles-FIN.qxd:CCCA_V1No1_Profile-FIN.qxd 9/17/08 5:17 PM Page 49 Profile or Marcia Decter, vice-president, land, negotiations, and Leadership component legal and general counsel of Chevron Canada, the new Decter is also a member of Chevron’s Leadership Team, a role Fproject represents another opportunity to work on an she clearly enjoys and feels is vital in a dynamic sector where exciting and “fantastic” venture. It’s the ever-changing, always risk needs to be evaluated, managed and mitigated. challenging nature of her industry that keeps Decter enthused. “Client groups involve us early on, and we stay involved “The oil patch is very dynamic, which means that, from a per- throughout the life of a project,” she says. “It’s a bit of a charge sonal perspective, I’ve always had the opportunity to do intel- — the oil business is a really interesting business…If you like lectually challenging work,” she says. big dollar projects, complex issues and transactions, the fun When she started her career in the early 1980s, “the patch stuff you can sink your teeth into — regulatory, fiscal, was very western-Canadian focused; we drilled a lot of wells in marketing, you name it — then you’ll find all that in the this part of the country through joint ventures,” says Decter, oil patch.” looking back over her 24-year career in the oil patch. “Over Travel has always held a strong attraction for Decter. Along the years, the business has become very multi-faceted. With the with her husband (a qualified sailboat skipper) and children Western Basin being drilled out, we’ve now moved into more (Rachel, 19 and Greer, 16), she has boated in Canada and the of a mega-project regime that includes the Alberta oil sands Caribbean. Moreover, in her line of work, “you’ve got to and offshore developments. So it never feels like you’re doing meet the people and see the operations to understand the the same work over and over again.” business,” so Decter has travelled through parts of the A lively “people person,” Saskatchewan-born Decter, 49, Athabaska Oil Sands project in the cab of a huge truck that was raised in a family where everyone was encouraged to hauls bitumen (“the scale of the project is unbelievable”). She express his or her opinion with conviction. That means, she has also visited the east coast operations, where icebergs are a says with a laugh, “that I can be somewhat argumentative and reality and a challenge. perhaps a little adversarial.” That may explain why, after grad- Decter does more than talk about leadership, however. uating from University of Manitoba Law School and moving Throughout the years, she’s been an active volunteer in both to Calgary, she started her career as a private-practice litigator. the corporate counsel sphere and among legal practitioners in Yet living in Calgary, in the heart of oil territory — along with the oil community. the suggestion of her then-boyfriend, now-husband Malcolm, She’s been a director of the Canadian Petroleum Law an-Ontario born geologist, that she look into the vibrant oil sec- Foundation, president of the then-Corporate Counsel tor — steered Decter in a Section of the CBA and, new career direction. If you like big dollar projects, in 2007, “had the honour, In 1984, she signed on at with the wonderful David complex issues and transactions, the fun stuff Chevron Canada for three “ Weyant [general counsel years in what amounted to a you can sink your teeth into…regulatory, and corporate secretary of crash course in the oil and fiscal, marketing, you name it…then you’ll Calgary Health Region]” gas business. She then moved find all that in the oil patch. of co-chairing the CCCA ” on to Unocal, rising to the Annual Meeting, an event position of general counsel she calls “invigorating and and corporate secretary. In 1998, she joined Marathon in the inspiring.” She’s also in the midst of her second stint as a same position, adding the role of manager, corporate services director of the Association of General Counsel of Alberta. in 2000. Finally, in 2003, she came back full-circle to Chevron, Above all, Decter says her goal is to be true to herself. where she heads a team of six lawyers, three legal assistants “At the end of every day, I want to know that I did the best MARNIE BURKHART, JAZHART STUDIOS cial/transaction type work, but there’s so much more — want to make certain that you are always challenged.” and three land people. job possible. You never want to get too comfortable — you “A lot of our legal team’s work focuses on commer- The oil patch, by its very nature, is full of challenges and opportunities. It’s an industry that suits Decter’s personality human resources, compliance, environmental, IT, notes Decter. very well. “And with 390 lawyers within the Chevron law function worldwide, her work life is characterized by constant commu- nication with legal colleagues in far-flung countries. Bev Cline is a history, legal and business writer in Toronto. AUTOMNE 2008 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association 49