Steptoe & Johnson

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE

• Represented oil and gas exploration and production companies in all aspects of their Pennsylvania operations including lease and other document design, negotiations, permitting, administrative proceedings, joint operating agreements, farmouts, acquisitions, dispositions, due diligence reviews, title examination and reporting, financing and litigation in state and federal courts
• Represented midstream operators in Pennsylvania transportation agreement design
• Represented midstream operators in major litigation
• Assisted non-Appalachian banks in adapting core financing and securitization documentation for use in Pennsylvania transactions
• Represented energy industry parties in mediation of major contract disputes

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

• 2010
  Steptoe & Johnson
• 1972-2010
  Culbertson, Weiss, Schetroma and Schug, P.C.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS / AWARDS

• Trustee, Energy and Mineral Law Foundation
• Member, International Municipal Law Officers Association
• Member, American Bar Association
• Crawford County Bar Association
• Chair, Land Title Standards Committee, Crawford County Bar Association
• Board Member, Municipal Law Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association
• The Best Lawyers in America®
• Recipient, John L. McClaugherty Award for distinguished service to the legal profession, the natural resources industry, and the Energy and Mineral Law Foundation, 2007
• Super Lawyers®
• Service Award, Meadville-Western Crawford County Chamber of Commerce, 2000
• Recipient, Outstanding Service Award, Greater Meadville Board of Realtors, 1996, 1997
• Recipient, President's Award, Eastern Mineral Law Foundation, 1993
• Recipient, Pennsylvania Bar Association Award for extraordinary contribution to pro bono service, 1989, 1990
• Graduated cum laude, Dickinson School of Law
• Graduated cum laude, Elon College
• Member (and past President), Crawford County Bar Association
• Member, Pennsylvania Bar Association
• Admitted to practice in all Pennsylvania Courts
• Admitted to practice in all Pennsylvania US District Courts (Eastern, Middle and Western)
• Admitted to practice before the United States Third Circuit Court of Appeals
• Institute for Energy Law
• Peer Review Rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell

INDUSTRY / CIVIC MEMBERSHIPS

• Director, Meadville-Western Crawford County Chamber of Commerce
• Director, Meadville Public Library
• Director, Boards of Fairview/Fairmont Housing corporations
• Corporator, Greendale Cemetery Association
• Independent Petroleum Association of America
• Solicitor, City of Meadville 1975-2010
• Director, The Petroleum History Institute
• Director, Appalachian Basin Association of Division Order Analysts (ABADOA)
• Director, National Association of Division Order Analysts
• Member, Association of International Petroleum Negotiators

PUBLICATIONS / SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

• “Thinking Internationally—Why US Independents Should Internationalize Their Reserves and Operations,” Energy & Mineral Law Foundation 2012 Winter Workshops, Lago Mar Resort, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, February 2012
• “Adapting Traditional Leases to Non-Traditional For a, Technologies and Issues (Reconsidering the Oil and Gas Lease as a Source of Law),” 63rd Annual Oil & Gas Law Conference, Institute for Energy Law of the Center for American and International Law, Houston, Texas, February 2012
• “Dealing With Legal Uncertainty: From the Void to Butler v. Powers,” presented to the Appalachian Round Table sponsored by Steptoe & Johnson PLLC for senior counsel and executives of select clients, November 15, 2011, Canonsburg, PA
• “The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, An Overview” presented to the West Virginia Export Council in Charleston, West Virginia on November 14, 2011
• "Voluntary and Statutory Pooling and Unitization in Pennsylvania," presented to the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s Oil and Gas Law Colloquium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 22, 2011
• “Appalachian Legal Basics for the Landman: From Runnymede to the JOA,” a two day course presented at the Doubletree Hotel in Washington, Pennsylvania for the University of Pittsburg at Bradford on November 11-12, 2011
• “Force Majeure in a Conch Shell” presented to the winter meeting of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York in Buffalo, New York on November 9, 2011
• Moderator, Panel Presentation of “The Law of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia Concerning Transfers of Property At Death”, presented to the Appalachian Basin Association of Division Order Analysts at their fall seminar in Canonsburg, PA on November 8, 2011
• “The Potential Economic Impact of Marcellus and Utica Shale Development in Oho”, presented to the annual conference of Ohio Small Business Development Centers in Dublin, Ohio on November 3, 2011
• “Overview of State Regulation of Hydraulic Fracturing in Select Appalachian States,” The Law Seminars International Telebriefing on State and Federal Regulation of Hydraulic Fracturing, October 26, 2011
• “The Marcellus and Utica Shales—Dynamic Economic Drivers for Pennsylvania,” The 2011 Fall Conference of the Pennsylvania Association of Chamber Professionals, Bedford Springs Resort, Bedford, Pennsylvania, October 17, 2011
• “Pennsylvania Legal Anomalies of Import for Division Order Analysts,” 38th Annual Conference of the National Association of Division Order Analysts, Savannah, Georgia, October 13, 2011
• “Voluntary and Statutory Pooling and Unitization in the Marcellus and Utica Shales in Pennsylvania”, presented to interested faculty and students at the Graduate School of Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on November 10, 2011
• "Lease Extension Clauses, the Company Perspective," presented to the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s Oil and Gas Law Colloquium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 21, 2011
• "Issues in Fracing Webinar," a panel participation with Steptoe & Johnson Members Sharon O. Flanery and Armando F. Benincasa the considered evolving litigation, core legal and lease issues and environmental and regulatory developments that was broadcast nationally by Thompson/West on September 15, 2011
• "Select Unique Appalachian Jurisprudential Approaches to Oil and Gas Operations," presented to the American Association of Professional Landmen’s 10th Annual Texas Land Institute in Houston Texas on September 13, 2011
• "Appalachian Update" (a presentation of case, statutory and regulatory updates affecting Appalachian shale operations) presented at the Institute for Energy Law of The Center for American and International Law 2nd Conference on the Law of Shale Plays in Ft. Worth Texas on September 9, 2011
• “Getting it Drilled: Evolving and Escalating Local Land Use Regulation of Oil and Gas Activity,” presented at the Institute for Energy Law of The Center for American and International Law 2nd Conference on the Law of Shale Plays in Ft. Worth Texas on September 8, 2011
• “Welcome to Appalachia, An Introduction to Select Unique Issues of Appalachian Law and Practice,” presented to the Steptoe & Johnson PLLC seminar on the Acquisition and Disposition of Appalachian Shale Assets in Columbus, Ohio on August 25, 2011
• “Select Issues in Comparative American Oil and Gas Law, the Pennsylvania Perspective,” presented at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Professional Landmen in Boston, Massachusetts, June 8-11, 2011
• “Pooling in Pennsylvania,” presented to the LexisNexis Communities Seminar on Emerging Issues On the Law of Marcellus Shale in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 7, 2011
• “An Introduction the Legal Foundation for Appalachian Petroleum Landwork—From Runnymede to The JOA,” presented to the University of Pittsburgh landman certificate program at UP Bradford on May 1-5, 2011
• “Intermediate Issues in Appalachian Title Examination,” presented to the Energy and Mineral Law Foundation seminar on Abstracting Titles In the Appalachian Basin on March 10-11, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
• “An Introduction to Doing Business In Appalachia,” presented to the Steptoe & Johnson PLLC seminar on the Acquisition and Disposition of Shale Assets in Appalachia in Houston, Texas on February 13, 2011
• Pennsylvania Perspectives on State Oil and Gas Conservation Agency Issues, Special Institute on Development Issues in the Major Shale Plays co-sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, and the Energy and Mineral Law Foundation with support by the American Association of Professional Landmen, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, December 6-7, 2010
• Panelist discussing “Minimizing Legal Risk—Best Practices In Preparing for Future Environmental Challenges” at the Shale Gas Environmental Summit: Linking Environmental Compliance to the Bottom Line, ” Houston, Texas, November 15-17, 2010
• “Litigation of Local Land Use Regulation Issues Related to Urban Drilling,” 9th Annual Energy Litigation Seminar of the Energy Law Institute of the Center for American and International Law, Houston, Texas, October 12, 2010
• “Marcellus Shale and the Practice of Law,” Energy Law Seminar, West Virginia University College of Law, October 4, 2010
• “The Marcellus Shale Play—Some Things You Need to Know Before Analyzing Marcellus Leases Title in Pennsylvania,” 2010 Annual Conference, National Association of Lease and Title Analysts in New Orleans, Louisiana, September 15, 2010
• “Shale Gas: A Resource for Global Transformation,” 2nd Oil and Gas Law Colloquium of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, September 14, 2010
• “Welcome to the Pennsylvania Marcellus,” Tulsa Division Order Association, Tulsa, Oklahoma, June 2010
• “Pooling-Contractual & Regulatory - A Nationwide Discussion (the Pennsylvania Perspective)” 56th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Professional Landmen, Vail, Colorado, June 2010
• “Regulatory Issues in Forming and Operating Units in a Shale Play (the Pennsylvania Perspective),” Short Course on the Law of Shale Gas Plays, Institute for Energy Law of The Center for American and International Law, Fort Worth, Texas, June 2010
• “Local Government Regulation of Oil and Gas Operations in a Shale Play (the Pennsylvania Perspective),” Short Course on the Law of Shale Gas Plays, Institute for Energy Law of The Center for American and International Law, Fort Worth, Texas, June 2010
• “Legal Basics for Beginning Landmen,” University of Pittsburgh, Bradford, Pennsylvania, March 2010
• “Pennsylvania Title Anomalies,” Michael Late Benedum AAPL Chapter Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 2010
• “Curing Oil and Gas Title Defects and Ethical Considerations for the Modern Landman,” Annual Educational Meeting: Northern Appalachian Association of Petroleum Landmen, November 2009
• Author of numerous books and articles on various oil and gas law topics