Chair, Energy & Natural Resources Department
Office:
Charleston, WV
About
Steptoe & Johnson’s Energy Team is made up of attorneys and paraprofessionals who provide comprehensive services to the energy industry across the firm’s major practices. Team attorneys have been top listed in a number of energy-related practice areas by the authors of The Best Lawyers in America® and Chambers USA. In fact, the authors of Chambers USA described our energy team as a “Sizable team offering regional and national strength.”
Team members provide solutions tailored to the specific needs of energy developers, making our team the go-to choice for both Appalachian and mid-continent developers working in the shales.
What sets us apart
- Top ranked Energy Law firm in the nation by the authors of The Best Lawyers in America®
- $20B in recent complex energy transactions
- More than 100 years of experience in energy law
- Team attorneys who have served in top leadership positions in some of the country’s largest energy companies
- Dedicated team of energy lawyers with years of experience in oil and gas law
- Scalable, time-sensitive solutions to meet client needs
- Transferrable shale gas experience
- Robust abstracting resources
- Strategic locations throughout major U.S. shale plays, including the Marcellus and Utica
- Energy transactional team made up of seasoned energy attorneys capable of completing multibillion-dollar transactions
- Utilization of the latest technology, including Quorum Land Management System
HOW WE HAVE HELPED
- Experienced in large-scale due diligence, including multi-million dollar transactions for the purchase of mineral interests
- Advised multiple oil and gas exploration companies in the interpretation of North Dakota Industrial Commission, Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, Utah Board of Oil, Gas and Mining, and Montana Board of Oil and Gas statutes and regulations applicable to fee, state and federal lands
- Experienced in unitization, joint operations, DEP and PUC regulation, and local land use regulation
- Reorganization of a Fortune 500 energy company into separate coal and oil and gas companies
- Analyzed documents relating to oil and gas property issues, including calculation of royalty interests, overriding royalty interests, and title examinations
- Advised an oil and gas exploration company in the interpretation of federal statutes and regulations governing common carrier designations for operators of pipeline easements and rights-of-way covering federal lands in northwest Utah
- Assisted clients with due diligence in connection to asset transfers in both rural and urban lands in Texas
- Responsible for numerous asset and stock transactions, lease transactions, and legal due diligence for very large acquisitions involving various shale assets
- Assisted Fortune 100-500 companies in connection with the drilling of several hundred wells for the exploration and development of oil and gas in the Appalachian Basin
- Prepared joint operating agreements, drilling commitment agreements, override agreements, and other documents defining parties’ rights and responsibilities in operating and producing in agreed-upon contract areas
