Program Chair and Committee
JENNIFER N. HORCHEM Program Chair, Of Counsel, Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP, Denver, CO
AUSTIN BRISTER Partner, McGinnis Lochridge, Houston, TX
WADE C. MANN Partner, Crowley Fleck PLLP, Bismark, ND
NIKI ROBERTS Partner, Hogan Lovells, Houston, TX
JOSEPH A. SCHREMMER Associate Professor of Law, University of Oklahoma College of Law, Norman, OK
PAUL G. YALE Partner, Gray Reed & McGraw LLP, Houston, TX
Speakers
AUSTIN BRISTER is a Partner with McGinnis Lochridge in Houston. He represents oil and gas operators, nonoperators, and mineral owners in oil and gas disputes. Austin has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in federal and state courtrooms across Texas, including courts in South Texas, West Texas, East Texas, and Central Texas. Austin seeks out creative and practical business solutions before resorting to litigation. But, when necessary, Austin works hard to implement aggressive strategies in the courthouse. Austin has successfully handled disputes concerning mineral and leasehold title, adverse possession, surface trespass and damages, royalty calculation and payment issues, issues arising out of purchase and sale transactions, operator/nonoperator disputes, breach of joint operating agreement, lease termination/saving disputes, and retained acreage disputes. Austin has taken and defended depositions of witnesses ranging from expert witnesses, chief operating officers, lawyers, engineers, drilling rig operators, and equipment operators. Austin is an active member of the Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law, where he currently serves as a Trustee-At Large, Co-Chair of the Oil and Gas and Landman’s sections for the Annual Institute, and on the Foundation’s Programs Committee. Austin is also on the Advisory Board for the Institute for Energy Law. Austin frequently publishes articles and gives presentations on upstream oil and gas law. In recent years, he has published several articles within the Texas State Bar OGERL Section Report, authored multiple articles and gave presentations for Annual Institutes and other programs for the Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law, authored and presented a paper for the Louisiana Mineral Law Institute, co-authored papers for the Institute for Energy Law, and published articles within AAPL’s Landman Magazine.
KEITH B. HALL is the Nesser Family Chair in Energy Law at Louisiana State University, where he serves as Director of the Mineral Law Institute and Director of the John P. Laborde Energy Law Center. He teaches Mineral Rights, International Petroleum Transactions, Civil Law Property, and Energy Law & Regulation. Professor Hall is a co-author or editor of four books: (1) The Law of Oil and Gas; (2) International Petroleum Law and Transactions; (3) Hydraulic Fracturing: A Guide to Environmental and Real Property Issues; and (4) The Regulation of Decommissioning, Abandonment and Reuse Initiatives in the Oil and Gas Industry. Professor Hall’s shorter publications have addressed carbon capture and storage, implied covenants in oil and gas leases, pooling and unitization, joint operating agreements, hydraulic fracturing, induced seismicity, and the management of produced water. Professor Hall has served as an arbitrator, author of amicus briefs, and as an expert witness in oil and gas disputes arising in several different states, as well as outside the U.S. Before joining the LSU faculty in 2012, Professor Hall practiced law at a major firm in New Orleans for sixteen years, and before that he worked for eight years as a chemical engineer.
M. BRADFORD MOODY graduated from Rice University and the University of Texas School of Law. He began his law practice with the Washington, D.C., office of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld in 1983 as an associate. From 1988 until 1996, he worked for Pennzoil Company, first as Attorney and later Senior Attorney. From 1996 until 2000, he worked for Belco Oil & Gas Corp., first as Senior Attorney and later Vice-President, Legal and Land. In 2000, Mr. Moody returned to private practice, concentrating in the fields of oil and gas, oil and gas litigation, and renewable energy development. Mr. Moody is licensed to practice in Texas by the Supreme Court of Texas and in New Mexico by the Supreme Court of New Mexico.
SUNNIE R. RICHARDSON is an attorney and landman whose focus is in energy law and energy transactions. She received her Juris Doctorate from the University of New Mexico with a certificate in Natural Resource and Environmental Law and her MA in Anthropology with an emphasis in Southwest Archeology from New Mexico State University, all of which have shaped her practice. She is experienced in handling energy transactions from start to finish. During her time in private practice, Sunnie conducted title, land use, and environmental due diligence for sizable renewable energy transactions and handled many oil and gas acquisitions from purchase agreement through closing. Sunnie has done extensive title review for drilling title opinions, division order title opinions, complex quiet title suits, and for acquisition due diligence. Sunnie’s knowledge regarding state and federal lands allows her to efficiently navigate both land work and legal work. Sunnie’s work as a landman focuses on mineral and royalty acquisition and leasing of energy properties in the Permian Basin.