Energy - Oil & Gas

For 25 years, Bailey Glasser's oil and gas litigation lawyers have helped clients of all kinds, all sizes, and locations navigate the complex legal landscape of the oil and gas sector. With a deep understanding of industry regulations, market dynamics, and legal precedents, we tenaciously advocate for our clients in even the most challenging cases in state and federal courts across the country.

In addition, our oil and gas practice has extensive experience representing clients in many sectors involving exploration and production, real estate, producing properties, and more. This includes royalty disputes, Joint Operating Agreements (JOAs), Working Interest disputes, oil and gas drilling rights, lease disputes, coalbed methane and coal mine methane rights, enhanced oil recovery (EOR), farm-ins and farm-outs, acquisitions and divestitures, production sharing contracts, downstream marketing agreements, gas transportation contracts, covenants to develop, drilled and retained acreage. 

Our litigation team is formidable and includes founding partner Brian Glasser, named a 2024 Top 200 Lawyer in the United States by Forbes, is a 2024 Lawdragon Top 500 Litigator in America, and a Best Lawyers "Lawyer of the Year" in Energy Law in 2023. For a full list of many of the accolades of our energy lawyers, visit this link.

Our litigation teams are augmented by other practice areas, including our sophisticated corporate group which handles M&A, contract, private equity, investments, and a full range of corporate matters impacting that oil and gas companies. We also have a team that focuses on mining litigation. 

Supporting all our work is our highly sophisticated Electronically Stored Information (ESI) Practice Group which employs a firm command of evolving best practices, emergent technologies, and established legal principles and rules to ensure that our corporate and individual clients preserve, collect, and manage ESI, and conduct e-Discovery, with strategic confidence.  Katherine Charonko, our ESI Practice Group Leader, is a thought leader and pioneer in the field of ESI and is a Certified e-Discovery Specialist (“CEDS”), a globally recognized credential. She regularly speaks on ESI issues around the country.

Our oil and gas lawyers help our clients in matters including: 

Royalty Disputes: we assist clients in resolving disputes over royalty payments, ensuring that they receive fair compensation for the extraction and production of oil and gas from their properties.

Oil and Gas Lease Disputes: we represent clients in disputes arising from oil and gas leases, including issues related to lease interpretation, breach of contract, and lease termination.

Environmental Litigation: we handle cases involving contamination, pollution, and other environmental issues related to oil and gas operations.

Regulatory Compliance: we advise clients on compliance with federal, state, and local regulations governing the oil and gas industry, helping them navigate complex regulatory requirements and avoid costly penalties.

Contract Disputes: we represent clients in contract disputes arising from oil and gas transactions, including disputes over drilling contracts, operating agreements, and supply agreements.

Surface Damage Claims: we advocate for landowners in disputes over surface damage caused by oil and gas operations, seeking compensation for property damage and loss of land use.

Title Disputes: we assist clients in resolving disputes over mineral rights and property ownership, conducting thorough title examinations and providing strategic legal guidance.

Operator and Joint Venture Disputes: we represent oil and gas operators and joint venture partners in disputes over rights, responsibilities, and profit sharing, helping to resolve conflicts and protect our clients' interests.

Related Practices

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Experience

• Representing oil and gas operator in multi-party dispute over intricate and high-dollar lease acquisition, development, and Joint Operating Agreements (JOAs) agreements for shale gas reserves in West Virginia
• Representing pipeline operators in cases related to allegations that they are responsible for property damage occurring as a result of pipeline leaks or explosions
• Representing major oil and gas operators in litigation alleging trespass to minerals in Central Appalachia
• Represented large landowning company in lease dispute centered on intentional breaches of anti-assignment provision in oil and gas lease, including investigating and litigating potential of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) operation to impinge upon reserve area; used innovative damages theories, which were approved by the trial court, to force a favorable settlement
• Represented roughly 50 independent oil and gas producers in complex commercial litigation regarding firm-price transportation agreements; after our position survived a motion to dismiss, we successfully concluded multilateral negotiations regarding those agreements
• Represented large landowning company in arbitration in which our strategy yielded recovery of hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages, including our client’s attorneys’ fees, within a year of initiating the action
• Represented Petco Petroleum in a series of cases relating to hydraulic fracturing and the migration of NGPL’s storage gas into Petco’s oil and gas reservoirs in a 48-square mile former Exxon oil field; the firm held NGPL’s $3.4 million damages claim to $420,000 in one case, and vindicated Petco’s development rights to a substantial shale gas formation in the other case on summary judgment
• Represented clients sued by plaintiff in state court for control of an oil and gas company; the firm caused the case to be transferred to an arbitration in Florida and the case resulted in arbitrator’s denial of relief for plaintiff and award in favor of defendant in excess of $300,000 including attorney’s fees
• Defended an electric utility company against a rural electric cooperative’s attempt to take over electric service to a large oil field formerly known as the Texaco Salem Unit; case involved testimony from expert petroleum and electrical engineers retained by Bailey Glasser

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