About
Steptoe & Johnson’s Energy Litigation Team is one of the largest and most diverse industry-specific litigation practices in the United States. More than 40 Steptoe & Johnson litigators represent energy clients throughout the nation, with our highest concentration of litigators centrally located in the shale play regions.
The group’s strength has earned it top ranking by The Best Lawyers in America® in West Virginia, and more than 60 percent of team members are individually recognized as Leaders in Their Field by Chambers USA.
What Do Others Say?
Chambers USA recently wrote of the Energy Litigation Team, “One of their strengths is that they analyze the claim at the outset and formulate a game plan early on, then steer it in the direction we want rather than where the other side takes us.”
What Sets Us Apart?
- Dedicated team of litigators serving only the energy industry
- 32 firm attorneys are former in-house attorneys for energy companies
- Nearly half of our litigators have more than 10 years of experience in energy litigation
- Largest mineral title practice in the eastern United States, so when mineral title litigation occurs, we know the title issues from the outset
- Our Emergency Response Team is ready to assist in a crisis and help clients prepare for the best response in critical situations
- As lead counsel, prosecuted a claim in excess of $24 million on behalf of a coal operator in an eminent domain matter that went to verdict in a jury trial
- Supreme Court decisions on duty to develop/protect from drainage and scope of mineral leasehold rights
- Mass tort claims relating to fluid disposal wells and permit discharges
- Litigated Marcellus shale well claims on surface use, ownership, drilling rights and pooling
- Defended cases involving breach of lease agreements, breach of implied covenants, right-of-way disputes, injunctions against landowners, and royalty disputes
- Litigated complex condemnation actions involving permanent easements for the storage of natural gas, permanent well road easements, and permanent pipeline easements
- Prosecuted dozens of preliminary and permanent injunctions to halt interference with gas transmission pipelines and well access disputes
- As lead counsel, defended claims in excess of $250 million regarding allegations of contract breach, fraud and tortious interference in a natural gas measurement dispute
- Defended energy company in a Clean Water Act citizens' suit alleging wastewater contamination from selenium and conductivity
- Represented producers with Marcellus and Utica shale wells in suits for excessive surface use, ownership, drilling rights, and pooling
- Experienced with OSHA and state investigations of drilling incidents
