Richmond Energy, Oil & Gas Lawyers

Admitted to Bar: 1984, Texas and Oklahoma Practice: Litigation; Oil and Gas. Experience: Mr. Ballentine has 35+ years of commercial litigation experience, primarily concerning disputes over upstream and midstream energy contracts, such as exploration agreements, joint operating agreements, wellhead sales agreements, gas processing contracts, natural gas purchase and sales agreements, maintenance and service agreements, natural gas and natural gas liquids transportation agreements and other related contracts. He has represented energy clients in complex litigation, including class actions in both state and federal courts, as well as litigation over state, federal and private mineral royalty claims, natural gas measurement False Claims Act qui...

I was born and raised in South Texas, climbing my way up from very humble beginnings. Throughout high school, I worked minimum wage jobs and faced numerous legal challenges that many ordinary people encounter. After honorably serving in the US Army and teaching at the high school level, I learned the importance of hard work, firmly believing that it surpasses talent every time. My dedication, determination, and integrity have led me to represent publicly traded multi-billion-dollar entities. Being bilingual, I fluently communicate in both Spanish and English and have a deep understanding of Hispanic culture, having been immersed in it from a...

Trent Nichols is a 7th generation Texan born and raised in rural Central Texas. When it came to work, he learned and adopted the values that run deep through the people this great state was built on: Work Hard. Work Smart. Work Honest. Those same values define the approach to legal representation at the Law Offices of Trent Nichols. Trent has dedicated his career to serving, supporting, and fighting for his clients, relying on his wealth of knowledge and experience in business and a tenacity to achieve results. Trent focuses his practice on what he knows best: Business Law, Civil...

Litigation:  
Adrian represents clients in adversarial proceedings covering civil, criminal, and administrative matters.  He has achieved favorable results in the form of jury/bench verdicts and relief being granted at each of these levels, including on appeals.  Additionally, Adrian has been able to recover on offensive claims and defeat defensive claims simply by issuing letters, thus generating significant cost savings. 

Energy: 
Adrian cut his teeth in the oil and gas industry.  He takes personal pride in having built his client base by identifying and recovering unpaid (or stolen) royalties.  Those successes have led to Adrian taking over leasing operations for hundreds of thousands...

Brian W. Farabough is a skilled attorney with Lovell, Lovell, Isern & Farabough, LLP. Brian is Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Oil, Gas and Mineral Law and focuses his practice on oil and gas matters, contract and business disputes, contractor representation, cattle transaction disputes, and landowner representation in all types of matters, including condemnation. His oil and gas practice covers everything from the review and drafting of industry contracts to representing clients in oil and gas disputes through trial and appeal. On behalf of his clients in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, he regularly seeks the...

Joe Broussard, a member of one of the founding families of Jefferson County, Texas, joined MehaffyWeber in 1988 and became a shareholder in 1994. Joe is board certified in Estate Planning and Probate by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and heads the firm’s Business Department. His experience includes work with numerous closely-held and family owned businesses, residential and commercial real estate developments, convenience stores, petroleum fuel jobbers, real estate transactions involving both surface and mineral interests, oil and gas transactions, wills, trusts, estate tax, gift tax and generation skipping tax planning. Joe is legal counsel and an executive board...

Derek Cook is a West Texas Trial Lawyer based in Midland who founded DDC Law to deliver experienced trial and appellate advocacy for clients throughout Midland, Odessa, the Permian Basin, and West Texas. With deep local roots and a record of courtroom success, Derek stands out as a top-tier Texas civil, criminal, family, and energy litigation lawyer practicing in commercial litigation, oil and gas litigation, commercial transactions, personal injury, family law, and criminal law.

Blair Beck McCall is a top-rated Texas attorney specializing in oil, gas & mineral law. Recognized as a Super Lawyers 2025 Rising Star for exceptional work in the areas of energy & natural resources, general litigation, and appellate. Admitted to practice in 2023 after earning his law degree from the University of New Hampshire, Blair brings extensive experience and expertise to the energy & natural resources sectors. Blair's practice focuses on resolving complex oil and gas disputes, mineral rights issues, and energy regulation matters. Representing energy companies, landowners, and various stakeholders across Texas, Blair handles commercial litigation cases,...

I completed my undergraduate studies at Baylor University and earned my law degree from St. Mary's University. My primary focus is on transactional law. I hold board certifications from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Commercial Real Estate Law, Farm and Ranch Real Estate Law, and Oil, Gas and Mineral Law. However, my legal practice encompasses all facets of real estate law. My areas of practice include: - Advanced estate planning - Probate law - Corporate and business formation - Financial institution and banking law - Corporate governance - Corporate securities - Corporate finance - Mergers and acquisitions - Oil and gas law - Energy finance Additionally, I handle cases related...

Thomas Kemmy is a personal injury attorney in Texas and New Mexico. Tom built his reputation representing ordinary people and small business owners injured by large corporations and hospitals. He has won large verdicts and settlements in difficult cases involving catastrophic and fatal injuries, medical negligence, oil and gas mineral and royalty disputes, and other business torts.

Tom started his practice in 1986 in San Antonio and worked for a premier insurance defense law firm, and in doing so, learned the defense side of the litigation practice.

After three and a half years of defense practice, Tom and his wife Ginger and...

Originally founded in 2005 as The Lester Firm by Timothy P. Lester, the firm changed to Moseley & Lester in 2015 upon the retirement of Mr. Lester's officemate, Sam R. Moseley, who practiced law for nearly 50 years in the same space. In 2024, the firm changed from a sole proprietorship to Moseley & Lester PLLC. The firm handles matters that are transactional in nature and limits its practice to Real Property, Deeds, Lady Bird Deeds, Owner-Financed Real Estate Closings, Foreclosures, Property Tax Redemptions, Obtaining Excess Proceeds from Property Tax Foreclosures, Oil & Gas Matters, Probate and Wills,...

Paul F. Wieneskie is a native of Commerce and Temple, Texas, bringing over 40 years of legal experience to Bailey & Galyen. He focuses on civil appeals, municipal law, economic development, and land use and planning disputes. Paul has successfully represented clients in appeals involving real estate law, family law and divorce, personal injury, and business or fiduciary (estate and probate) matters. He has been board-certified in civil appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1994—an honor held by fewer than 10% of Texas lawyers—and is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell’s Peer Review Rating System since 1997. Paul is admitted...

Diego J. Peña currently serves as a full-time arbitrator and mediator. He began his practice in San Antonio, Texas as a commercial and business litigator. As an attorney for more than 36 years, Mr. Peña has represented individuals, small to medium businesses and Fortune 500 corporations in state and federal courts. He has litigated cases involving consumer disputes, contracts, personal injury, wrongful death, insurance claims and disputes, federal and state constitutional law claims, civil rights, labor & employment claims, religious discrimination, sexual harassment and hostile work environment, real estate disputes, oil and gas disputes, environmental issues and...

Rafael is a proud native of a small town in West Texas (Fort Stockton), where he spent his youth camping in Big Bend National Park and on drilling rigs with his father learning the oil and gas industry that has long-fueled much of the West Texas economy. Rafael credits his work ethic and “never-say-die” attitude to his parents, both of whom worked blue-collar jobs during Rafael’s adolescence to help their children succeed. Rafael left home to play Division I football in the Big XII Conference, where he received several accolades for his performance on and off the field, including being selected...

I am admitted to practice in Texas Courts, U.S. District Courts - Western and Southern Districts of Texas, and the U.S. Supreme Court. I have the requisite skills, education, and experience to help serve your legal needs in Bastrop County and adjacent counties in Central Texas. I earned my Juris Doctor (JD) from St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas, and I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin. I not only have the legal training and experience needed to provide legal representation, I also have the background, education,...

Seven year Attorney, former prosecutor, experience in oil and gas with the largest natural gas company in North America.

Aimee serves clients throughout all of Texas. She concentrates her practice in the areas of oil and gas law (exclusively representing land owners and mineral owners in connection with testing agreements, surface agreements, oil and gas leases and pipeline or access easements), commercial real estate and water law. “One of the things I am passionate about”, Aimee says, “is assisting mineral and surface owners to make informed decisions about the future of their land and mineral assets, and in being good stewards of their land, both for themselves and for their heirs”.

Aimee was born in Lincoln, Nebraska....

Daniel Charest gets results for his clients in high-stakes litigation. His career reflects a history of big wins in the court room and high-profile settlement agreements. He achieves those results through a combination of smarts and daily hard work. Daniel understands that trust and accountability with his clients, plus a dedicated group of attorneys, form the foundation of a strong legal team.

From international arbitrations in London to small-town courthouses, Daniel knows each victory—no matter the size—matters to the client. Daniel co-founded Burns Charest with the mission to form a team of dynamic attorneys from varied backgrounds who are motivated...

Mr. McComber is a Partner at Figari & Davenport, LLP whose practice focuses on complex commercial litigation. Mr. McComber has a broad range of experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants in contract disputes, TRO and injunctive relief proceedings, health, life, and disability insurance disputes, class actions, oil and gas matters, and litigation involving commercial real estate. Mr. McComber has successfully tried cases in both federal and state courts, and has also represented numerous clients in significant arbitration proceedings.

Austin Smith focuses his practice on litigation and dispute resolution. Austin has experience in handling a wide variety of matters in state and federal court, involving complex commercial and business disputes, fraud, personal injury, and criminal matters including white collar crime. From 2017 to 2018, Austin was honored to serve as a law clerk to the Honorable Judge Amos L. Mazzant in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. With Austin has been consistently selected by BestLawyers as “One to Watch” (2020-2022) and Texas Super Lawyers Rising Stars (2021-2022) - a recognition that only 2.5%...

Our teams start with a deep understanding of our clients’ business objectives. We share knowledge across practices and regions. We help our clients not only mitigate risk, but also discover opportunity. And each success begins with the same simple question…

How can we help you?

By pooling our energy, talents and resources, we are able to achieve the highest order of excellence in the practice and profession of the law. Through such practice we are able to give back to our communities, and in all things to govern ourselves as members of a free democratic society with responsibilities both to our profession...

The practice consists of handling cases for various private individuals and corporations. The cases handled involve the following theories of law: General negligence, personal injury, automobile accidents, products liability, insurance claims, fraud, deceptive trade practices, breach of warranty, contracts, business disputes, residential and commercial real estate, oil and gas and construction liability. The most important goal of the firm is to provide quality legal work that is responsive to our clients' needs at a competitive cost and to handle our clients' cases efficiently and economically while giving each of our clients the attention that they deserve.

Octavio Salinas II brings forth an extensive legal and business background. He has handled hundreds of criminal and civil cases throughout Texas and the United States, settled multi-million dollar personal injury claims, and argued before the state and federal appeal courts.

Paul Grinke is Managing Partner of McCathern’s office at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Mr. Grinke has broad experience on a national level, litigating complex commercial and catastrophic event claims from both sides of the docket. He has successfully litigated commercial breach of contract, fiduciary duty, and employment covenant claims. In addition, Mr. Grinke prosecutes and defends claims involving personal injury, wrongful death, and disastrous property damage arising from construction defect, product defect, trucking, and liquor liability.

Mr. Grinke leads McCathern’s Construction Defect, Product Liability and related Fire Litigation practices. He has particular expertise in counseling institutional clients involved in tragic...

Mr. Childers joined Freeman Mills PC with more than 20 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. He began his career as an independent field landman performing all aspects of onshore land services for domestic exploration and production companies. From 2006 to 2015 he held the following positions with independent domestic upstream operating companies: Land Manager, Land Manager and General Counsel, Vice President - Land, Executive Vice-President - Exploration and Production, Chief Operating Officer and President.

During his tenure in the energy business, Mr. Childers has been charged with leading the management of exploration and production operations, the acquisition...

I was born and raised in Abilene, Texas, having attended, and graduationg from, Abilene Christian School all 12 grades. I went on to get a BBA in Accounting from ABilene Christian University before going to law school at Texas Tech University School of Law. After graduating law school I started working for Isaac M. Castro in Hamlin, Texas. In 1999 I was made a partner in the new law firm Castrro & Davis, L.L.P. Subsequently, in August 2000, I moved to Cleburne, Texas, and went to work as in-house counsel for gimmeabid.com, then located in Dallas, Texas....