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Christopher A. Brown

Chris Brown is a partner in the firm’s Dallas office where he is a member of the oil, gas, and resources practice group.

Chris maintains a diverse trial practice comprised of multi-state litigation and appellate matters, including representation of large public and smaller equity-backed oil and gas operators and producers in a variety of disputes in Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Ohio, involving:

  • Class and individual royalty and overriding royalty issues
  • Gas gathering, processing, transportation, and marketing
  • Purchase and sale agreements
  • Lease termination
  • Land, boundary, and mineral ownership issues
  • Environmental issues including contamination and remediation
  • Working interest/surface owner disagreements
  • Development rights and obligations
  • COPAS accounting procedures and other energy accounting issues
  • Indemnity claims
  • Joint operating disputes
  • Joint venture/partnership issues

In addition to his energy litigation practice, Chris has experience litigating claims involving oil and gas securities fraud, financial services disputes, government contracts, title to real property, and commercial cases relating to breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, asset conversion, and minority shareholder oppression.

He also advises energy industry clients on best practices and compliance issues relative to revenue and royalty accounting.

Chris has also presented CLE topics on ethics and oil and gas issues relating to class actions, the marketable condition rule, royalty accounting, lease termination, joint operating agreements, and subsurface ownership and trespass.

Prior to joining the firm, Chris was a shareholder in the Dallas office of a Texas law firm and, prior to that, was an associate at Hughes & Luce, LLP and K&L Gates, LLP following the merger of the two firms.

Prior to entering private practice, Chris served as a Briefing Attorney to Justice Wallace B. Jefferson on the Texas Supreme Court.

  • Texas Rising Star, Thomson Reuters, 2011-2016
  • Exchangite of the Year, Exchange Club of Lake Highlands, 2015
  • Dallas Bar Association
  • Member of the Oil & Gas, Business Litigation, and Appellate Sections of the Dallas Bar Association Lake Highlands Young Life Committee (Member, 2015-present)
  • Exchange Club of Lake Highlands (Member, 2010-present; Director, 2013-present)
  • Dallas Bar Association, Home Project Committee (Member, 2005-2009; Co-Chair, 2007-2008)
  • Briefing Attorney, the Honorable Wallace B. Jefferson, Texas Supreme Court (2003-2004)
  • “Subsurface Ownership and Trespass: Does the Exclusive Right Include the Right to Exclude? An Examination of Lightning Oil Co. v. Anadarko E&P Onshore, LLC,” Winstead Annual Oil & Gas Seminar, October 4, 2017
  • “Evolution of the Marketable Condition Rule,” Winstead Annual Oil & Gas Seminar, September 15, 2016
  • Coastal v. Garza: the Unanswered Questions and the Implications of FPL Farming v. EPS,” Winstead Annual Oil & Gas Seminar, 2013
  • “Maintenance of Uniform Interests,” K&L Gates Sixth Annual Fort Worth Oil & Gas Seminar, October 6, 2010
  • “The Statute of Frauds,” K&L Gates Fifth Annual Fort Worth Oil & Gas Seminar, November 11, 2009
  • “Oil & Gas Case Law Update: Coastal Oil & Gas Corp. v. Garza Energy Trust,” K&L Gates Fourth Annual Fort Worth Oil & Gas Seminar, September 11, 2008
  • “Legal Ethics in Texas: Supervising Other Lawyers And Non-Lawyers,” Lorman Education Services Legal Ethics Seminar, October 11, 2007
  • “Has My Lease Terminated? Asserting and Defending Lease Termination Claims,” Third Annual Hughes & Luce LLP Fort Worth Oil & Gas Seminar, September 27, 2007
Additional Thought Leadership Pages
  • Trends in Oil and Gas Litigation, State Bar of Texas Advanced Civil Trial Course, July 16 – 18, 2014 (co-authored with Jeffrey C. King)
  • Waiver/Disclaimer of Reliance Provisions After Allen v. Devon Energy Holdings, L.L.C., August 2011 (internal publication available upon request)
Additional News & Event Pages
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