PJ has extensive experience representing clients in a variety of energy and oil and gas matters, including acquisitions and divestitures, contracts, title and title curative issues, financings, regulatory matters, litigation, joint operations and joint ventures, accounting and COPAS disputes, bankruptcies, and general commercial litigation. He primarily represents independent energy companies in legal and regulatory issues, including rendering advice on energy operations, oil and gas exploration, midstream operations and transactions, Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act matters, BOEM/BSEE/ONRR regulatory issues, and Louisiana Mineral and Energy Board and Office of Conservation matters.
PJ has also served as special oil and gas counsel to trustees, official committees, and debtors-in-possession in several notable oil and gas bankruptcies.
EDUCATION
- J.D., Loyola University College of Law (New Orleans), 1995
- B.A.D., University of Notre Dame, 1992
HONORS
- Finalist, 2018 Texas Lawyer Professional Excellence Award
BAR ADMISSIONS
- Louisiana
- Illinois
REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE
- Represents clients in various acquisitions and divestitures relating to Gulf of Mexico properties, including title and title curative issues.
- Consistently represents clients in the evolving dynamics associated with BOEM qualifications and financial assurance requirements.
- Helped create the first dual obligee security designed to protect both predecessors-in-interest and BOEM in relation to Gulf of Mexico decommissioning obligations.
- Helps form, create, and qualify companies with the Department of the Interior so that such entities could commence initial activities in the Gulf of Mexico.
- Represents alternative energy and traditional E&P clients seeking alternative use permits on the OCS.
- Supports LNG, wind, and low-carbon energy projects, onshore and offshore.
- Acts as general corporate counsel for energy clients which do not have in-house counsel.
- Lead counsel in MOGUS v. TOTAL, a complex lawsuit dealing with predecessor liability, bankruptcy, COPAS accounting, and operating agreement issues.
- Represented ATP Oil & Gas Corporation as special oil and gas and regulatory counsel in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding; In re: ATP Oil & Gas Corporation, Case No. 12-36187, USBC SDTX.
- Represents Taylor Energy Company, LLC in its on-going BOEM/BSEE mandated clean-up activities on Mississippi Canyon Block 20, which was severely damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
- Consistently represents oil and gas borrowers in various complex oil and gas financings, both onshore and offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. Such financings are both asset based and project specific.
- Consistently represents energy and oil and gas clients in state and federal court litigation and in various administrative proceedings.
- Represents a wide range of clients in the negotiation and drafting of various energy and oil and gas contracts, including service and maritime related contracts.
- Represents oil and gas companies in bonding and the posting of alternative financial security arrangements.
- Represents a wide variety of oil and gas companies in a wide range of regulatory matters associated with the regulations, policies, and procedures of the Department of Interior, BOEM, BSEE, ONRR, and the IBLA.
- Represents Chapter 11 debtors-in-possession, official committees, and Chapter 7 trustees as special counsel to advise such entities and their primary bankruptcy counsel on mineral law issues and how to successfully navigate through Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 proceedings while remaining in compliance with the rules and regulations of the BOEM/BSEE, the Louisiana Office of Conservation, and the Louisiana State Mineral and Energy Board. Representative proceedings include In re ATP Oil & Gas Corporation, Case No. 12-36187, USBC SDTX; In re Whistler Oil & Gas II, LLC, Case No. 16-106661, USBC EDLA; In re: Virgin Oil, Inc., Case No. 09-11899, USBC EDLA; In re: Probe Resources, Inc., Case No. 10-40395, USBC SDTX; In re: Pisces Energy LLC, et al, Case No: 09-36591, USBC SDTX; In re: Harvest Oil & Gas, LLC, et al, Case No. 09-50397, USBC WDLA; In re: Energy Partners, Ltd., et al, Case No. 09-32957, USBC SDTX; In re: Tri- Union Development Corporation, Case No. 03-44908, USBC SDTX; and In re: Panaco, Inc., Case No. 02-37811, USBC SDTX, and others.
- Represents co-working interest owners and service companies possessing claims against Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 bankrupt debtors, successfully asserting lien rights pursuant to the Louisiana Oil Well Lien Act (La. R.S. 9:4861, et seq.), the Louisiana Operators/Non- Operators Lien Act (La. R.S. 9:4881, et seq.), and the Louisiana Private Works Act (La. R.S. 9:4801, et seq.).
- Represents companies in filing, perfecting, and prosecuting of liens and claims arising under the Louisiana Oil Well Lien Act (La. R.S. 9:4861, et seq.), the Louisiana Private Works Act (La. R.S. 9:4801, et seq.), and pursuant to maritime law.
- Represents companies in proceedings before the Louisiana State Mineral and Energy Board and the Louisiana Office of Conservation in a variety of matters.
- Represents several oil and gas producers/operators/non-operators in contractual disputes with their co-working interest owners and dealing with operational issues, gas imbalances, unpaid joint interest billings, lease operating expense disputes, COPAS accounting issues, and a variety of other matters.
- Case No. 96-50212, USBC WDLA. Such representation included aiding the reorganized/successor entity in consummating its plan of reorganization and prosecuting several claims objections. The reorganized/successor entity has been renamed Gulfport Energy Corporation.
- Represents oil and gas producers/operators/non-operators in contractual disputes with their co-working interest owners and dealing with operational issues, gas imbalances, unpaid joint interest billings, lease operating expense disputes, and a variety of other matters.
- Represents oil and gas companies in a wide variety of insurance disputes.
PUBLICATIONS AND SPEECHES
PJ has made several speeches and prepared several presentations at numerous oil and gas related seminars and has published articles in AAPL’s Landman Magazine. Some of his presentations include:
- Creative Approaches to Offshore A&D Transactions – What Forms of Security and Performances Guarantees Work Best, presented at 2018 OCS Advisory Board Workshop Program on January 31, 2018.
- Environmental Issues Arising in Recent Oil and Gas-Related Bankruptcy Cases presented at UT Westbrook Conference on November 18, 2016.
- Offshore Oil and Gas Bankruptcy Issues, presented at the OCS Summer Seminar Anadarko Tower on June 8-9, 2016.
- A Few Anticipated Hot Topics for Oil and Gas Bankruptcies, presented at the HBA Seminar on March 24, 2016.
- Surety Panel Discussion: Upcoming Changes to BOEM’s Financial Assurance Requirements and Their Impact on the Surety Market; presented at the Wortham 2016 Insurance Market Update Seminar on January 14, 2016.
- Purchase and Sale Agreements; Production Handling Agreements for the Deepwater and on the OCS; Treatment of E&P Contracts in Bankruptcy; Offshore Operating Agreements, presented at the EUCI Offshore Contracts Seminar, on January 27, 2015.
- Abandonment Agreements, Production Handling Agreements and Treatment of Offshore E&P Contracts in Bankruptcy, presented at the EUCI Offshore Contracts Seminar, May 2014.
- BOEM/BSEE P&A Liability Estimates and Resulting Financial Security Requirements, presented at the Oil & Gas Symposium on Changes to Bonding Requirements and an OCS Regulatory Update, November 2013.
- Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Adjudication Section Procedures: Qualification, Assignments and Transfers, and Designation of Operator, presented at the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Seminar on January 24, 2013.
- Treatment of E&P Contracts in Bankruptcy, presented at the Houston Bar Association Luncheon, April 28, 2009.
- Production Handling Agreements for the Deepwater and on the OCS, A Legal Perspective, presented at the COPAS Joint Interest Quarterly Meeting, January 29, 2009.
- OCS Title and Current MMS Regulatory Matters, presented at the Fifty-Fifth Mineral Law Institute on March 27-28, 2008.
- Commentary on Recent Legislation and Executive Action Dealing with Drilling and Royalties, presented at the PLANO Executive Night Seminar on February 15, 2007.
- Title Examination in Louisiana, cosponsored by the Louisiana Mineral Law Institute, presented at LSU Baton Rouge on October 26-27, 2006.
- Production Handling Agreements for the Deepwater and on the OCS, a Legal Prospective, presented at AAPL’s Gulf Coast Land Institute on October 10, 2006.
- Production Handling Agreements, presented at the PLANO Executive Night Seminar on February 23, 2006.
- The Ins and Outs of INC’s – Responding to Incidents of Noncompliance, presented at the AAPL Gulf Coast Land Institute on October 16, 2003.
- The Ins and Outs of INC’s – Responding to Incidents of Noncompliance, presented at the PLANO “Baseball Seminar” on April 25, 2003.
- A Comparison of Oil and Gas Lien Law in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, Including Bankruptcy Perspectives, presented at the AAPL Gulf Coast Land Institute on November 8, 2001.
- A Comparison of Oil and Gas Lien Law in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, Including Bankruptcy Perspectives, presented at the AAPL Gulf Coast Institute on November 7, 2002.
- Oil and Gas Bankruptcies: A Background and Primer, presented at the PLANO Executive Night Seminar on February 7, 2002.
- Recent Developments in Louisiana Oil & Gas Lien Law, Including Bankruptcy Perspectives, presented at the PLANO Seminar on April 13, 2000.