Top Rated Energy & Natural Resources Attorney in Dallas, TX

Honors/Awards:

• Best Lawyers in America, 2020
• D Magazine, Best Lawyers in Dallas, Litigation, 2019
• Elite Trial Lawyers, National Law Journal, 2018
• Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters, 2018
• D Magazine, Best Lawyers in Dallas, Litigation, 2018
• 5th largest verdict in Texas, Top Texas Verdicts & Settlements of 2016 , Texas Lawyer, 2017
• 12th highest jury verdict for the U.S. in 2016, National Law Journal Top Verdicts, 2017
• Women in Energy Award for outstanding women lawyers representing the energy industry, Texas Lawyer, 2016
• Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters, 2012

Bar/Professional Activity:

• Products Liability Advisory Council, Sustaining Member 2003-2010
• All Texas federal courts and the Fifth Circuit
• Chair, Dallas Bar Association Media Relations Committee, 2017
• Texas Bar, 1991
• Dallas Bar Association – Judiciary, Bench Bar, Media Relations and Courthouse Committees, Member

Pro bono/Community Service:

• Texas Bar Foundation, 2020
• Dallas Bar Foundation, Member  

Scholarly Lectures/Writings:

• “When the Media Call:  Responding to a Client Crisis” (Accredited for 1.0 hours participatory, 1.0 hours ethics by Texas Bar)
• “Getting or Avoiding Media Attention – For You and For Your Clients” (Accredited for 1.0 hours participatory, 1.0 hours ethics by Texas Bar)
• Dallas Bar Association Media Relations Committee CLE, 6/25/2014
• Author, Litigation Issues in Area of Mutual Interest (“AMI”) Agreements, 2017
• Co-Author, Three More Lives: How to Keep Issues of Law Alive at Trial, Litigation Section Of The State Bar Of Texas, 2017

Verdicts/Settlements:

• ConocoPhillips Co. v. Ramirez, — S.W.3d —, 2006 WL 1848584 (Tex. App. — San Antonio, no pet.)
• County of Dallas v. Sempe, 151 S.W.3d 291  (Tex. App. — Dallas 2004, pet. dism’d)
• In re Harman Intern. Industries, Inc., —S.W.3d—, 2000 WL 1060516 (Tex. App. —- San Antonio 2000, orig. proceeding)
• Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Yarbrough, — S.W.3d —,  2012 WL 195608 (Tex. App. — Houston [14th Dist.] 2012), reversed, 405 S.W.3d 70 (Tex. 2013).
• Kalodner v. Michaels Stores, Inc., 172 F.R.D. 200 (N.D. Tex. 1997)
• Pulmosan Safety Equipment Corp. v. Terry, — S.W.3d —, 2010 WL 2025781 (Tex. App. — Houston [1st Dist.] 2010, no pet.)
• Lead counsel for plaintiff in $135 million judgment received in oil and gas case, Mesa v. Baytech et al., Reeves County, Texas, 2017
• Pulmosan Safety Equipment Corp v. Lamb, 273 S.W.3d 829 (Tex. App. — Houston [14th] 2008, no pet.)
• Dallas County v. Gonzales, 183 S.W.3d 94  (Tex. App. — Dallas 2006, pet. denied)
• Money Masters, Inc. v. TRW, Inc., — S.W.3d — , 2003 WL 152770 (Tex. App. — Dallas 2003, no pet.) (trial counsel)
• Aviall, Inc. v. Ryder System Inc., 110 F.3d 892  (2d Cir. 1997)
• Baker v. Energy Transfer Co., — S.W.3d —, 2011 WL 1797602  (Tex. App.—Waco  2011, pet. denied)
• Chrysta Osborn, Comment, Constitutional Scrutiny and Speech:  Eroding the Bedrock Principles of the First Amendment, 44 S.W. L.J. 1013 (1990)
• Moore v. Pulmosan Safety Equipment Corp., 278 S.W.3d 27 (Tex. App. — Houston [14th Dist.] 2008, no pet.)
• Needleman v. John Hancock Life Ins. Co., — F. Supp.2d —, 2006 WL 842370 (N.D. Tex. 2006)
• McManus v. Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc., 320 F.3d 545 (5th Cir. 2003) (trial counsel for General Motors)
• In re Air Bag Products Liability Litigation, 7 F.Supp.2d 792  (E.D. La. 1998)
• Doe v. Episcopal School of Dallas, — F. Supp.3d —, 2011 WL 395683 (N.D. Tex. 2011)
• Richie v. Am. Council on Gift Annuities, Inc., 943 F.Supp. 685 (N.D. Tex. 1996), appeal dismissed sub nom. Ozee v. Am. Council on Gift Annuities, Inc., 110 F.3d 1082 (5th Cir.), reh’g denied, 116 F.3d 1479 (5th Cir. 1997), cert. granted, judgment vacated sub nom Am. Bible Soc. v. Richie, 522 U.S. 1011 (1997); on remand sub nom. Ozee v. Am. Council on Gift Annuities, Inc.143 F.3d 937 (5th Cir. 1998), cert. denied, 526 U.S. 1064
• Ferguson v. John Hancock Life Ins. Co., — F. Supp.2d —, 2008 WL 8084951 (S.D. Tex. 2008)

Representative Clients:

• Represented oil and gas services company in theft of trade secrets/employee raiding case; obtained temporary injunction and defeated Anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss

• Represented royalty owner syndicate in claims for underpayment of royalty and commingling of production

• Represented shareholders of closely held oil and gas operating company in dispute over assets and control

• Represented lessees regarding breach of farmout agreement that caused leases to lapse; worked with valuation experts to develop damages model based on value of prospective resources in Eagle Ford

• Acted as interim General Counsel for Permian operating company in 2016.
• Lead counsel for investor and his company in trial arising from breach of Area of Mutual Interest agreement and Joint Operating Agreement covering the Delaware Basin. Judgment entered in 2017 for $135 million.
• Represented working interest owner in dispute arising from failure to honor tag-along rights arising from a sale in the Permian Basin.  

Educational Background:

• Harvard College, Applied Math major, 1981-1983
• Kansas State University, B.S. Industrial Engineering, 1985