Natural Resources Litigation

Holland & Hart is one of the leading natural resources law firms in the Mountain West—and the country. Our nationally recognized litigators have extensive experience before federal and state courts, as well as local, state, and federal agencies.

Natural resources litigation comes in many different forms, from complex contractual disputes, to statewide and multistate class actions, to tort claims for compensatory and punitive damages. The litigators at Holland & Hart have a proven record of successfully protecting their clients' interests in the courtroom in a variety of natural resources cases covering a range of substantive areas.

Royalty Litigation
Holland & Hart has represented oil and gas producers in royalty class actions for more than two decades. At present, our attorneys are handling more than ten royalty class actions in five different states.

We have defended oil and gas producers in royalty class-action lawsuits throughout the country, including Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming. We have tracked the changes in the wellhead markets over the decades and have developed persuasive arguments, expert testimony, and graphics to demonstrate the historical points of valuation and the validity of various valuation methods.

Gas Measurement Litigation
Royalty owners in recent years have asserted claims based on alleged mismeasurement of gas, either at the wellhead or at downstream processing plants. Our attorneys have defended producers in multiple actions alleging gas mismeasurement, from cases involving single royalty owners to multistate class actions and qui tam suits. We also have counseled companies on their rights with respect to third-party vendors supplying gas measurement devices.

Surface and Mineral Disputes
Disputes involving access to surface property come in a variety of forms. Difficult land owners often deny entry upon the surface, and property developers at times make unreasonable demands that prevent access to valuable easements. Similarly, adjacent mineral owners can delay or even prevent development without legal intervention. Holland & Hart's litigators have represented energy companies in all aspects of these surface and mineral disputes: counseling companies, negotiating with land and other mineral owners, and obtaining court orders to gain access to property.

Intellectual Property Litigation
Holland & Hart's intellectual property group has a practice that is national in scope, and our litigators have extensive experience with patent and trademark cases involving clients in the natural resources industry. We have successfully handled a variety of patent, trademark and other cases protecting our clients' intellectual property.

Commercial Disputes
Many disputes with joint venturers, other working interest owners, and vendors are resolved amicably and without the need for legal assistance. When these disputes cannot be resolved, however, we have the litigation experience to protect our clients' interests. Whether the dispute involves contractual indemnity provisions, or complicated joint operating agreements, or a simple matter of unpaid bills, our litigators are ready to help.

Torts and Premises Liability
The natural resources industry can be dangerous, and lawsuits are an unfortunate byproduct of that danger. When clients are sued for torts such as wrongful death, negligence or premises liability, Holland & Hart stands ready to mount a vigorous defense on their behalf. We have extensive experience in defending our industry clients against tort claims, and have the skill and resources needed to negotiate a favorable resolution or, when necessary, take the case to trial.

Persuasion Strategies
Our in-house trial consulting team, Persuasion Strategies, provides our oil and gas clients with state of the art trial tools including persuasive animations of well drilling, processing plants, environmental challenges, and much more. This nationally recognized team of litigation consultants and graphic and video professionals has a proven track record in complex oil and gas litigation.

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Experience

Royalty Litigation
Holland & Hart currently represents over seven oil and gas producers in class actions filed in Oklahoma and New Mexico challenging the right of producers to allocate post-production expenses when calculating royalty payments. We obtained the first defense verdict in favor of producers under Colorado's Rogers v. Westerman Farm Co. decision, persuading a Denver jury that natural gas was marketable at the physical location of the wellhead and rejecting the multimillion dollar claims of a 2,500-person class. We successfully garnered summary judgment in favor of a New Mexico oil and gas producer in a multimillion dollar royalty underpayment class action. That judgment is currently pending in the New Mexico Supreme Court, and Holland & Hart is handling the appeal. Holland & Hart has negotiated multiple agreements with royalty owners settling alleged underpayment claims on terms favorable to producers. In class actions, our attorneys have successfully achieved approval of such settlements over the objections of some class members. Our attorneys successfully dismissed a claim in New Mexico challenging expenses incurred to extract carbon dioxide from a tertiary flood in West Texas. For many years, we have represented several major oil and gas producing clients in False Claims Act cases brought by the Department of Justice and relators on behalf of the United States involving claims of false royalty reporting. In 2009, one of these cases was settled on terms extremely favorable to our client.
Gas Measurement Litigation
We served as coordinating counsel to a joint defense team of roughly 50 natural gas pipeline owners and operators who were sued for alleged gas mismeasurement in a purported class action in Kansas. The putative class included millions of owners in 32 states. The owners and operators successfully defeated class certification. Our attorneys defended oil and gas producers against a multimillion dollar qui tam action in which the relator, on behalf of the U.S. Government, alleged mismeasurement of gas and underpayment of federal royalties. The producers succeeded on summary judgment. Holland & Hart defended a producer in Colorado state court against allegations that it underpaid overriding royalties by mismeasuring natural gas at a downstream processing plant.
Surface and Mineral Disputes
We represented a large oil and gas producer in a federal lawsuit attempting to force directional drilling under the guise of Colorado's "reasonable accommodation doctrine." Holland & Hart achieved a directed verdict upholding the right of a New Mexico oil and gas producer to cross adjacent leases underlying a unified surface estate, defeating the plaintiff's trespass claims. We successfully defended a producer in a permanent injunction proceeding filed as part of a dispute over correlative rights in Utah's Uintah Basin. Our attorneys were successful in dismissing an action filed by a land owner attempting to prevent surface access in order to develop the underlying mineral estate. The case was dismissed and attorneys' fees and costs awarded to the producer.
Intellectual Property Litigation
We successfully tried a patent infringement dispute in Wyoming concerning downhole technology for the production of coalbed methane. Holland & Hart has handled multiple trademark infringement suits related to the debranding of a client's gas stations. Our attorneys have extensive experience advising natural resources companies on possible claims for patent and trademark infringement.
Commercial Disputes
Holland & Hart represents a large Wyoming natural gas producer in a dispute over whether the predecessor under a joint operating agreement is responsible for the unpaid joint interest bills of its successor. The case presents an issue of first impression under Wyoming law. We successfully defended a pipeline company against a half-billion dollar lawsuit over the ownership of an interstate pipeline. Our client was awarded $110 million on its counterclaim. Our attorneys successfully obtained a defense verdict in favor of a producer on a claim for breach of the implied covenant to develop in which the overriding royalty owner sought millions in damages and lease cancellation. We succeeded in forcing an Indian tribe to litigate a commercial dispute in Denver District Court, defeating its assertion of sovereign immunity. The trial court's rejection of the tribe's sovereign immunity defense was affirmed on appeal.
Torts and Premises Liability
We represented a producer against negligence and premises liability claims arising from the death of a contractor's employee at a Wyoming well site. The producer was awarded summary judgment on all claims. Holland & Hart represented a oil and gas field services company against personal injury claims arising from exposure to chemicals used at a well site.