Denver

Fulbright & Jaworski’s Denver location provides litigation services, and energy regulatory and transactional services to domestic and international companies doing business in the Rocky Mountain region. As a full-service firm with nearly 1,000 lawyers worldwide, our clients benefit from our regional experience combined with our national and international resources.

Fulbright's commitment to the success of our clients has allowed us to become trusted advisors to many of the most active companies in the Rockies. At the foundation of this commitment is the belief in the development of a strong personal relationship between client and lawyer, and a determination to remain at the forefront of important legal, business and industry trends. 

Energy

Fulbright has served the energy industry for decades, representing both independent oil and gas producers and integrated energy companies. Today, this tradition continues. We are strategically located in the major domestic and international energy centers around the world. Our 16 locations include: 

The depth of our experience and breadth of our resources allow us to advise clients across every sector of the energy industry, including:

• Exploration and production
• Gathering, transportation and distribution
• Refining and petrochemical manufacturing
• Trading and marketing
• Power generation

Lawyers in Fulbright's energy practice have advised over 1,000 energy clients worldwide, including owners, operators and producers; pipelines; processors; independents; integrated majors and energy service and supply companies. 

Western Lands and Energy

The rising demand for energy resources, coupled with increasing pressure to reduce the United States’ dependence on imported oil, has shifted the nation’s energy focus to the exploration and development of the country’s domestic natural resources. The Rocky Mountain region continues to see increased exploration and production activity of its minerals resources.

Fulbright has long served the legal needs of energy clients in the Rocky Mountain West, with a particular focus on western lands and natural resource issues and litigation. We advise clients with respect to domestic onshore oil and gas exploration, development and production issues on federal and state lands, including transactional, litigation, regulatory counseling and government affairs matters.

Fulbright lawyers assist energy companies in navigating the complex regulatory, property and environmental issues that are perpetual obstacles to development providing essential guidance in the often politically charged atmosphere in which natural resource companies must operate.  Our experience includes:

• Environmental matters 
• Lease/royalty matters 
• Transactional/operational matters  

Energy Litigation

As recognized leaders within the industry, our lawyers are well-equipped to handle litigation needs of our energy clients in the Rocky Mountain region.

Upstream - Exploration & Production

Fulbright’s energy litigators are at the forefront of the issues facing upstream operators and service providers in this increasingly active region. We represent clients with respect to:

• Purchase and sale agreement disputes
• Exploration and operating agreement disputes
• AMI disputes
• Drilling contract disputes
• Lease covenant disputes
• Title disputes
• Seismic and other technical disputes
• Tort litigation
• Royalty and working interest owner and service contract disputes
• Environmental challenges to onshore and offshore mineral development
• Surface damage disputes

Natural Gas - From Gathering to Distribution

With its large natural gas basins and abundant natural resources, including 40% of the United States’ proven natural gas reserves, the Rocky Mountain region is considered the largest remaining potential resource for gas outside of the U.S. Gulf Coast. Our significant experience representing natural gas clients uniquely positions us to provide counsel to companies involved in gathering, processing, transportation, trading, marketing and distribution of natural gas resources in the Rocky Mountain region.

Fulbright lawyers have experience in gas contract and marketing issues, including pricing, take-or-pay, quality and measurement, failure to deliver and imbalances. We represent energy clients in rulemaking and contested cases before various federal and state agencies, including appeals of regulatory decisions of those agencies. We have a substantial practice before federal agencies involved in energy development, including the Minerals Management Service and the Bureau of Land Management. In addition, we routinely represent pipeline companies in connection with:

• Condemnation of easements
• Right of way valuation
• Allocations of costs to relocated existing pipelines to accommodate government construction projects
• Use of pipeline easements for fiberoptic cable
• Transportation exchange agreements
• Avoiding excessive municipal franchise taxes

We also represent companies with natural gas operations in any number of matters, including:

• Deregulation litigation
• Royalty valuation litigation
• Gas contract disputes
• Affiliate marketing disputes
• Gas gathering and processing
• Gas plant accounting
• Gas measurement
• Pricing disputes

Downstream - Refining, Manufacturing and Marketing

From the financing and construction of refining and manufacturing facilities, to the licensing and distribution of consumer products, our knowledge of downstream issues covers clients through every point in the process. Our substantial hydrocarbon refining, manufacturing and marketing experience includes:

• Joint ownership agreements
• Environmental challenges
• Toxic tort
• Premises liability
• Construction disputes
• Intellectual property
• Petroleum Marketing Practices Act
• Supply agreements
• Product liability controversies
• Plant accidents
• Major incident litigation

Electric Power

Lawyers in our energy practice group have substantial power generation knowledge and experience. We advise companies involved with the generation and distribution of electric power in any number of issues, including:

• Purchase and sale agreement disputes 
• Construction disputes 
• Financing disputes 
• Federal and state regulatory disputes  

Our regulatory lawyers assist companies in the domestic electric industry with issues such as functional unbundling of services, restructuring of tariffs and service schedules and stranded cost filings. We also counsel clients with regard to litigating any number of the inevitable controversies in administrative, judicial and arbitration proceedings.

Energy Regulatory

We have helped energy companies interpret and deal with the complex federal and state regulatory schemes affecting their businesses for more than 40 years. Our experience ranges from counseling companies on FERC and state regulation of the production, sale and transportation of natural gas, to addressing Department of Transportation jurisdiction over pipeline safety matters and federal land access.

Our regulatory lawyers are among the industry leaders who guided the restructuring of the natural gas industry during the last decade in the wake of numerous FERC Orders, including Order 636. We advise clients on issues such as:

• Compliance with open access issues
• Prosecution of pipeline tariff and rate filings
• FERC authorization for market-based rates
• Development and certification of new pipeline and storage projects
• Federal land access
• Municipal street-crossing permits

Energy Transactional

With over 70 years working within the energy industry, we have developed vast experience in significant legal issues affecting the energy industry. We understand the structures and risks involved in energy transactions and projects, both domestic and international. We work closely with each client’s project development and legal teams to identify, prioritize and develop a plan to mitigate project risks before they become obstacles to timely completion or financing issues.

Our energy transactional experience includes:

• Acquisitions and dispositions of oil and gas properties and energy assets
• Exploration, development and production of oil and gas properties
• Operating agreements, service and operating contracts
• Business entities and joint ownership participation arrangements
• Production sharing and risk service contracts, licenses and concessions for oil and gas properties
• Public bids and government procurement
• Sales, gathering, storage, processing, transportation and terminaling
• Processing, refining, throughput, energy conversion and off-take

Litigation and Dispute Resolution

Our litigation and dispute resolution practice has been a cornerstone of the firm since 1919. With more than 400 litigation and dispute resolution lawyers around the world, we handle everything from local litigation to complex international disputes. We offer a hands-on philosophy tailored to meet clients’ specific needs that has resulted in thousands of successful jury and non-jury trials and arbitrations.

Fulbright has earned a reputation as a litigation powerhouse with unparalleled depth and breadth of practice and service within the energy industry. 

Learn more about Fulbright's Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice.