Larry helps energy sector clients with their complex, bet-the-farm cases throughout the Gulf Coast. In his more than four decades of work, he has earned a reputation for cover-to-cover knowledge of the Mineral Code of Louisiana, particularly the historical background of its rules and regulations.

He is regularly called on to handle title issues, contract litigation involving mineral rights and the payment of mineral royalties and cases that deal with the valuation of crude oil or natural gas for royalty or other purposes.

He was one of the leaders of a defense team for approximately 18 energy producers against a putative class action aimed at nullifying orders for units by the Commissioner of Conservation:

In the precedent-setting case, Larry was part of firm’s team defending six oil and gas, E&P companies in Texas. The claim against them involved a challenge by landowners to units established by the Commission of Conservation.

In pre-trial motions, the defense team argued against revising or nullifying the thousands of units at issue, saying instead that they had been properly granted. The defense convinced the trial court, lost in Court of Appeals after several hearings and eventually prevailed in the Louisiana Supreme Court, which in 2014 reinstated the trial court’s decision confirming the validity of the units.

“We identified several core issues,” Larry explains, “regarding the method of challenging the Commissioner Orders as exclusive. We understood the history of the law and how to attack the plaintiffs’ assertion.”

Larry represented a major energy producer in a legacy case where landowners filed claims for land damages, in addition to claims for royalties on the processing of gas they allege weren’t properly paid on leased land. “The accounting on the processing claim,” as Larry put it, “was very complex.”

Larry was invited to help with a lease case being handled by other lawyers. “It had become bitter and personal between the lawyers, when the case was really a pretty straight-forward question of accounting.” Larry stepped in, things calmed down, and the claim was settled for $250,000…when it had been $1.5 million.