Through September and October, the TAMU Law Energy, Environmental, and Natural Resource Systems Law Program hosted a speaker series to highlight the diverse work that practitioners do in the real world. For the final speaker in the series, the Program hosted Conrad Hester, a partner with Alston & Bird. The majority of Hester’s work has focused on oil and gas litigation, including lessor versus lessee disputes, title issues, and industry contract disputes.
Hester began by explaining how thankful he has been to work as an oil and gas litigation lawyer because it has provided him with work material he loves. He defined his practice as a series of concentric circles where the larger circle of his work is oil and gas, and the core circle is title work. He also described his litigation work as quasi-transactional, as he regularly negotiates leases and consults with clients during the pre-litigation phase.
So far in his career, Hester explained, he has had two opportunities to work cases that appeared in front of the Texas Supreme Court. For the first case, he was strictly brought in on appeal and then for retrial. For the other, he tried the case, and his opponents won on one jury question. The Supreme Court would later determine that the jury question was the material issue in the case and would send it back down to the lower courts. Both of these cases revolved around production-based quantities, also known as PPQ cases.
Hester noted that he mainly deals with leases drafted before 1963, making the changes over time noticeable and intricate. Since many of these leases were originally drafted without considering specific issues, Hester often finds himself translating the gaps between old leases and new ones. He explained that people often will argue over leases that may not be profitable because they do not understand the business side of oil and gas exploration and production. He noted that he also deals quite a bit with lease saving clauses and their enforceability and highlighted an ongoing case over a force majeure clause that will soon go before the Court of Appeals.
Hester then addressed the relevant law for PPQ cases, including the current judicial test to determine the validity of a lease. He noted opportunities for lessors to adversely possess their leases after the lease has “died.” Hester also spoke about the future of the energy industry in Texas, specifically oil and gas. Despite the events of 2020, Hester asserted that the downturn has not diminished the optimism of those planning wells on their lands and speculates that the industry will return to pre-COVID levels. He also emphasized that current law students, particularly 1Ls and 2Ls, should not be deterred from entering the oil and gas industry.
Hester suggested that post and recent graduates should be careful when choosing a base location, as this can give a young attorney a leg up depending on the location of potential clientele. For instance, the Fort Worth metroplex is a great place for upstream oil and gas, while Houston is an excellent place for downstream oil and gas activities. Hester also recommended that anyone interested in a similar practice enroll in natural resource-focused classes, such as Oil and Gas Law, Advanced Property, and Texas Land Title, as well as any trial or appellate procedural classes for those interested in the litigation side of practice.