Oil & Gas
WPX Energy Permian LLC v. The State of Texas, The Texas General Land Office, et. al. Represents WPX Energy Permian LLC in an ultra vires suit against several officials of the Texas General Land Office and University Lands in the District Couret of Ward County, Texas. WPX seeks title relief relating to a University Lands Development Unit Agreement covering 71 leases and more than 30,000 mineral acres in Ward and Winkler Counties.
Pioneer Natural Resources v. Pony Oil et al. (Martin Co., TX)
Representing a small, privately-owned Dallas company as lead counsel in defense of an alleged $500 million claim brought by ExxonMobil subsidiary Pioneer, which has asserted claims for lease terminations on multiple tracts in the heart of the Midland Basin. The Dallas Morning News provided coverage of a June 2025 hearing in the ongoing litigation.
Complex Commercial Litigation
Noncompete Arbitration (AAA/ICDR)
Represented multi-billion dollar cryogenic tank manufacturer in international arbitration against competitor involving breach of contract and noncompete violations.
Restructuring
Barrow Shaver Resources, LLC
Barrow Shaver Resources, LLC, a large oil and gas operator, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. In connection with the bankruptcy, a dispute arose between Barrow Shaver and a group of non-operating working interest owners who hold interests in numerous Barrow Shaver oil and gas leases on valuable property located in Morris, Cass, Upshur, and Camp Counties, Texas. The dispute centers on whether Barrow Shaver may avoid the working interests previously assigned to the group. To protect their interests, the non-operating working interest owners commenced an adversary proceeding in the Southern District. In that action, they seek a declaration that the disputed working interests are either not property of the bankruptcy estate or, alternatively, not subject to avoidance by Barrow Shaver. The proceeding also involves related issues concerning expense allocations to the working interest owners. The matter remains in its early stages and is still pending before the court.
MAP Enterprises, Inc.
Representing MAP Enterprises, Inc. (MAP)—a Kentucky corporation—which has been named as a defendant in an adversary proceeding brought by the Chapter 11 Trustee for McClain Feed Yard, Inc. and related entities (the “Debtors”) in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, Amarillo Division. The Trustee alleges that Mr. Brian McClain, the owner of McClain Feed Yard, operated a cattle-raising Ponzi scheme wherein he collected, pooled, and distributed hundreds of millions of dollars, although 90% of the cattle he claimed to be raising for investors never existed. Relying on the Ponzi-scheme presumption of fraudulent intent, the Trustee seeks to avoid and recover transfers made to net-winners prior to Debtor’s bankruptcy filing to maximize the recovery of creditors and net-losers of the alleged scheme.
