Austin represents Texas operators and non-operators in complex issues and disputes. He seeks practical solutions to avoid litigation, but adopts aggressive courtroom strategies when necessary.
M & M Res., Inc. v. DSTJ, LLP, 2018 Tex. App. LEXIS 9331 (Tex.Civ.App.—Beaumont 2018, no pet.) Plaintiffs in title disputes sometimes will allege a claim under the Declaratory Judgment Act in order to seek attorneys’ fees. In this case, the court held that the claim could...
Yates Energy Corp. v. Broadway Nat’l Bank, No. 04-17-00310-CV, 2018 Tex. App. LEXIS 10517 (App.—San Antonio Dec. 19, 2018, no pet.) The San Antonio Court of Appeals recently analyzed the Texas Correction-Instrument Statutes in Yates v. Broadway. The court held that, if a grantor or grantee have conveyed...
Endeavor Energy Res., L.P. v. Energen Res. Corp., No. 11-17-00028-CV, 2018; Tex. App. LEXIS 8705 (Tex.App.—Eastland Oct. 25, 2018, pet. filed) The Eastland Court of Appeals recently issued its opinion in Endeavor v. Energen adopting a limited interpretation of an “accumulation” clause within a continuous development provision....
Apache Deepwater, LLC v. Double Eagle Dev., LLC, 557 S.W.3d 650 (Tex. App.—El Paso 2017, pet. denied Dec. 14, 2018) Retained acreage provisions continue to be a popular subject in Texas oil and gas law. The Texas Supreme Court recently denied a petition for review in the...
Green v. Chesapeake Expl., L.L.C., No. 02-17-00405-CV, 2018 Tex.; App. LEXIS 10307 (Tex. App.-Fort Worth Dec. 13, 2018, no pet.) In urban oil and gas plays such as the Barnett Shale, horizontal drilling has "paved the way" for oil and gas operators to drill through...
OBO, Inc. v. Apache Corp., 2018 Tex. App. LEXIS 8392, (Tex.Civ.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2018, no pet.) Parties to a joint operating agreement sometimes elect to have a non-owner serve as the operator. For example, interest owners may determine that they are unwilling or unable to perform the...
