Willie Wood became a partner in Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.'s Houston office in 1993. He concentrates his practice on the defense and prosecution of commercial and business litigation matters, with an emphasis on energy industry matters.

Since his commencement at the firm in 1984, Mr. Wood has been involved in the trial and arbitration of numerous cases of domestic and international origin, often defending cases in jurisdictions unfriendly to defense interests, obtaining defense verdicts when defending, and multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements when prosecuting.

Mr. Wood has prosecuted and defended claims involving breach of contract, tortious interference, state and federal antitrust, misappropriation, common law and statutory fraud, negligent misrepresentation, business disparagement, state and federal securities actions, product liability, nuisance, trespass, conversion insurance coverage, breach of fiduciary duties, shareholder oppression, and qui tam. He has litigated these claims arising from a variety of U.S. and international contractual arrangements, including:

• Area of mutual interest agreements
• Asset purchase and sale agreements
• Earnout agreements
• Energy based incentive/bonus compensation agreements
• Exchange agreements
• Farmout agreements
• Gas purchase and sale contracts
• Joint operating agreements
• Joint venture agreements
• Manufacturing agreements
• Oil and gas leases
• Partnership and joint venture agreements
• Pipeline construction contracts
• Power purchase agreements
• Production sharing contracts
• Processing agreements
• Refinery construction contracts
• Shareholder agreements
• Stock purchase and sale agreements
• Transportation agreements  

Typical claims litigated include disputes relating to price redetermination provisions, oil and gas royalty obligations, representations and warranties, purchase price adjustments, take or pay provisions, capital contribution obligations, oil and gas well drilling obligations, implied covenants, delivery of goods requirements, force majeure provisions, right of first refusal provisions, contract termination provisions, and indemnity obligations.

Mr. Wood's active trial, arbitration and litigation practice also includes advising clients on litigation avoidance strategies, and litigation preparedness in connection with disputes that appear likely to result in litigation.

His practice often involves evaluation of competing dispute resolution and forum selection provisions, competing choice of law provisions, and parallel proceedings in state, federal and bankruptcy courts, and arbitral tribunals.

He has litigated matters on behalf of domestic and foreign corporations and other entities and individuals involved in the energy, real estate, brokerage, insurance, banking, manufacturing, retail, construction, agriculture, and food products industries. He works with an extensive network of industry consultants and legal practitioners in foreign jurisdictions.

Mr. Wood’s domestic practice has involved working in various federal and bankruptcy courts throughout the state, and in the following Texas counties: Bell, Bexar, Brazoria, Brooks, Cameron, Dallas, Duval, Galveston, Hardin, Harris, Hidalgo, Jefferson, Jim Hogg Liberty, Live Oak, Matagorda, Montgomery, Nueces, Potter, San Patricio, Starr, Tarrant, Taylor, Travis, Tyler, Val Verde, Victoria, Webb and Wharton. His practice has taken him to the following states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma and Wyoming. In connection with his international practice, he has worked on matters involving the following countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, El Salvador, England, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Spain and Venezuela.

Mr. Wood is a senior member of the firm's Energy Practice Group, Co-Chair of the firm's Energy Litigation Practice Group, Co-Chair of the firm's Latin America Practice Group and Co-chair of the firm's International Litigation Practice Group.

Representative Energy Industry Cases

• Tried to a jury verdict a case involving claims by holders of an oil and gas interest in undeveloped lands claiming loss of an opportunity for development of leasehold. Plaintiffs claimed they could have drilled five Queen City Wells and two Wilcox Wells and claimed damages of over $50,000,000. Jury delivered a complete defense verdict. (Starr County)
• Tried to a jury verdict a case involving claims for royalty underpayments; breach of the duty to reasonably develop the lease premises; breach of the duty to protect the leasehold from drainage; breach of the duty to market gas as a reasonably prudent operator for a declaratory judgment on royalty clause language; plaintiffs asked the jury for $225,000,000. Jury awarded a portion of the damages claimed on the drainage and development claims and returned a defense verdict on other claims. (Zapata County)
• Tried to a jury verdict a case involving breach of the duty to protect the leasehold from drainage; bad faith pooling; slander of title and tortious interference. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff clients and a judgment in the clients favor was entered. (Wharton County)
• Tried to a jury verdict a case on behalf of a natural gas transmission company involving take or pay and ratable take provisions in a natural gas purchase contract. (Federal District Court Amarillo)
• Tried to a jury verdict a case involving a dispute between the operator of a prolific oil and gas field and a working interest owner alleging that the operator failed to drill additional development wells and failed to implement a gas cycling program (Hardin County)
• Litigated and obtained a multi-million dollar settlement on behalf of a plaintiff oil and gas company against a defendant seller of oil and gas properties. The case involved common law fraud and statutory fraud claims arising out of the plaintiff's purchase of oil and gas properties based on represented reserve numbers (Arbitration-AAA)
• Litigated and obtained a multi-million dollar settlement on behalf of a plaintiff gas purchaser in a case involving a gas producers’ breach of an unfavorable gas sales agreement involving production in Louisiana and Arkansas (Harris County)
• Represented a major gas transmission company in Bolivia in connection with claims resulting from the construction of a large diameter pipeline transporting gas from Bolivia to Brazil (ICC Arbitration, seated in Montevideo, Spanish language)
• Represented a power generating company in Guatemala regarding claims relating to a power purchase agreement (Arbitration under UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, seated in Miami, Spanish language)
• Represented oil and gas consultant in obtaining multi-million dollar pre-litigation settlement attributable to his interest in major oil and gas field in West Africa
• Representing a major international energy company in a dispute over the termination of a contract to sell an oil and gas concession is Oman (LCIA Arbitration, Seated in London)
• Represented an international energy company in a dispute with co-owners of an interest in a block offshore Nigeria, involving drilling and other operational activities (AAA/ICDR Arbitration; Dallas County for interim equitable proceedings)
• Representing energy company over its ownership and operating rights in an oil and gas concession in Ecuador (Harris County)
• Litigated dispute relating to conflicting claims of title to oil and gas properties in Starr County, Texas, including related litigation and arbitration, bankruptcy proceedings, state and federal appeals, and receivership and injunctive proceedings
• Representing a major independent oil and gas company against claims by family members claiming an undivided mineral interest to lands in Brooks County, which interest is claimed to be derived from land titles over one century old (Brooks County)
• Represented a Canadian-based manufacturer and marketer of agricultural products in paralleled AAA Arbitration and California Federal and State Court Litigation in a matter concerning warranties and representations made in connection with the purchase and sale of a fertilizer plant and associated facilities. A primary issue in the case involved whether a gas purchase contract conveyed in the sale of assets contained a gas warranty provision that required the seller of gas to deliver to the fertilizer plant all of the gas needed for the plant to operate at full capacity
• Represented gas producer and power generating company with respect to a dispute over the right to produce gas from a city landfill and to convert the gas to power for sale to a utility (McLennan County)
• Represented a defendant operator/lessee in connection with a claim by the plaintiff/lessor that the lessee failed to protect the leasehold from drainage. The case was settled after the voir dire examination. (Duvall County)
• Represented a seller of oil and gas properties as a creditor in a Bankruptcy Court trial on the issue of the value of developed and undeveloped properties and reserves in connection with the debtor's request to continue as a going concern versus liquidating under Chapter 7. (Bankruptcy Court - Houston)
• Obtained a temporary injunction on behalf of an operator (an independent international oil and gas company) enjoining a non-operating working interest owner from wrongfully putting the other working interest owners to an election on a proposed ten-well drilling program. Succeeded in obtaining a final summary judgment interpreting the operating agreement in the operator's favor. Court awarded the operator all attorneys' fees requested. The case was upheld on appeal on all points. (Harris County)
• Litigated a “material change in financial condition clause” with respect to a retail electric power supply contract in Harris County District Court and at the Public Utility Commission
• Litigated a wholesale power purchase contract on behalf of power purchaser, involving lost profits resulting from the wholesale power supplier’s breach of its supply obligations (Harris County State Court)
• Litigated a case on behalf of major gas transmission company's trading subsidiary relating to a force majeure condition (icing of otherwise navigable waterways) excusing a failure to deliver a barge cargo of natural gasoline products. (Federal District Court - Houston)
• Litigating a case regarding force majeure defenses to gas delivery obligations resulting from serious supply shortages caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (Harris County)
• Litigating a case involving force majeure defenses to performing liquids exchange obligations at tailgate of a fractionation plant that experienced feedstock shortages resulting from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (Harris County)
• Litigated a dispute involving a force majeure clause under a natural gas purchase/sale contract relating to a natural gas pipeline's inability to deliver gas during extended freezing conditions in Louisiana (Harris County)
• Litigated a dispute between a non-operator and an operator relating to the operations proposal provisions in an operating agreement regarding the construction of a gas pipeline and concerning the operator's conduct in submitting an inflated AFE (Authority For Expenditure) on a proposed development well and on a gas gathering facility (Harris County)
• Defending a False Claims Act case on behalf of gas pipeline and gas marketing company defendants involving allegations that defendants knowingly mismeasured and undervalued natural gas produced from Federal and Indian lands and leases leaking to underpayment of royalties to the United States. The case was recently dismissed in a multidistrict litigation proceeding in the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming
• Litigated a purported national class action case involving allegations that defendants failed to accurately measure gas produced from lands other than Federal or Indian lands (Stevens County, Kansas)
• Represented a large independent oil and gas company in a multi-defendant case involving allegations of aquifer pollution allegedly resulting from oil and gas activities (Starr County)
• Litigated a matter involving operations issues relating to a water-flood hydrocarbon recovery project (Dallas County)
• Defending entities involved in gas and power trading in connection with disputes arising out of supply and price volatility, and claims of unfair competition
• Litigated numerous cases involving take-or-pay provisions in natural gas purchase contracts
• Litigated numerous gas contract dispute cases involving the interpretation of gas pricing, delivery and measurement provisions
• Litigated numerous cases involving the interpretation of royalty clauses and division orders as respects a lessee's obligations to a lessor
• Litigated numerous cases involving the implied covenant to market as a reasonably prudent operator
• Litigated numerous cases involving the duty implied in oil and gas leases to reasonably develop the leased premises and to protect the leasehold from drainage

Representative General Commercial/Business Litigation Cases

• Obtained a multi-million dollar jury verdict for actual and exemplary damages on behalf of a plaintiff manufacturing company against defendants that interfered with the company's proposed lending transactions. The causes of action included tortious interference with prospective business relations, business disparagement, fraud, violations of the Texas Free Enterprise Act, and breach of contract. (Harris County)
• Obtained a jury verdict for actual damages and exemplary damages on behalf of a family ranching partnership and one of its partners against the other partner. The case involved causes of action for breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract. (Harris County)
• Obtained a jury verdict for a manufacturer of concrete products in a breach of contract matter concerning a customer's failure to honor its contract to purchase specially manufactured goods. The case involved unique legal issues arising under the Uniform Commercial Code. (Montgomery County)
• Obtained a complete defense verdict in favor of an investor against allegations made by foreign and domestic companies regarding numerous complex real estate partnerships. The allegations included fraud and breach of contract. (Harris County)
• Tried to a jury verdict a case for a component part manufacturer in a lengthy trial in connection with a case alleging lost profits and lost business value from the alleged defective manufacturers of parts. Jury found in favor of primary client on four issues attempting to hold client responsible for subsidiaries’ acts (no alter ego, no agency, no other vicarious liability). The case involved issues relating to the application of Mexican Law.
• Tried an ICC Arbitration matter in Mexico City. The matter involved the Mexican television network's multi-million dollar claim against one of the three largest American television networks for breach of a joint venture. Many of the witnesses testified in the Spanish language.
• Represented a diamond jewelry manufacturer in an action to recover diamond inventory in the millions of dollars from a group of individuals claiming to be partners with the manufacturer. (Federal District Courts - Houston and Atlanta)
• Represented a major electronics/defense firm in a case involving allegations of lost profits resulting from alleged breaches of fiduciary duties and tortious interference with contracts in connection with an alleged joint venture relationship. (Federal District Court - Houston)
• Representing a major manufacturing group in Mexico in a case involving purchase price adjustment issues in multiple PSA transactions (Mexico City; New York)
• Litigated a case regarding a shareholder demand to a corporate Board of Directors relating to a disposition of stock in a business, and a shareholders' class-action relating to a company's announced plans to divest assets and divisions
• Prosecuted and defended numerous cases involving allegations of fraud in stock and asset transactions
• Prosecuted and defended numerous cases involving claims under asset purchase agreements and stock purchase agreements relating to the representations and warranties made in the agreements and relating to allegations of fraud and other business torts in connection with the transactions
• Prosecuted and defended numerous cases on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants involving tortious interference, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and other business torts

Representative Toxic Tort Litigation Cases

• Tried to a successful defense jury verdict (seven weeks of trial) a wrongful death, personal injury and property damage matter involving allegations of aquifer pollution resulting from operations at a landfill. The case involved 480 plaintiffs, though only 9 were tried in the first case (San Patricio County)
• Represented a major refiner in a multi-plaintiff personal injury and neighborhood property damage case resulting from a hydrofluoric acid gas release. (Brazoria County)
• Represented a major oil and gas industry equipment manufacturer in a multi-plaintiff and multi-defendant case involving alleged birth defects resulting from pollution emissions from "maquiladoras" along the Rio Grande River. The case involved legal issues implicating Mexican Law. (Cameron County)
• Represented a major international grower, processor and marketer of food products in cases involving over 25,000 banana workers from 25 countries (including Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama and Ecuador) claiming sterility and other injuries from exposure to a pesticide containing 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane ("DBCP"), with one case filed in Jim Hogg County involving 1,500 Honduran plaintiffs. (Numerous Texas state district and appellate courts and federal district and appellate courts)
• Represented a major refiner/chemical manufacturer in cases involving benzene and other potentially hazardous substance exposure at refinery worksites
• Represented an international oil field services company in a case involving allegations of property damage allegedly resulting from industrial plant emissions Represented a major international consulting firm in a case alleging mismanagement of clean-up activities on a Federal Superfund site

• International Bar Association
• American Bar Association
• State Bar of Texas
• Texas Bar Foundation, Fellow
• Houston Bar Foundation, Life Fellow
• Houston Bar Association

• American Board of Trial Advocates, Associate Member
• Chambers USA, one of the top Energy attorneys in Texas (2005-2006)
• Texas Super Lawyer, Texas Monthly magazine
• "Leading Lawyer," The Legal 500 US
• The Best Lawyers in America

• Co-author with Laura McMahon, "Bienvenidos a Texas - article on Diversified Latin American Practices," LatinLawyer Magazine, June 2007
• Co-author with Anibal Sabater, “CAFTA - New Horizons For Free Trade Agreements,” LatinLawyer Magazine, May 2007
• Contributing author, Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. 2007 Trends in Energy Litigation, 2007
• Contributing author, "Dispute Resolution in 46 Jurisdictions Worldwide," Getting the Deal Through, Texas Chapter,  2005 - 2007
• Contributing author, “Private Entities Now Allowed to Participate in Gas Development Projects,” Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Latin America Update, June 2006
• Contributing author, “Back to the Future: A New Wave of Nationalizations in Latin America,” Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Latin America Update, May 2006
• “Court Shopping: How to get Your Case Heard Stateside,” LatinLawyer Magazine, October 2005
• Contributing author, “Current Trends in Energy Litigation,” State Bar of Texas Oil, Gas and Energy Resources Law Section Report, December 2002
• Contributing author, "Energy Reform in Mexico: New Opportunities for Energy Companies?" Latin American Law & Business Report, February 2002

• "Joint Operating Agreements Including International Issues," University of Houston Law Foundation, Oil, Gas and Energy Law Course, Houston & Dallas, Texas, September 2007
• Instructor, “International Litigation, Arbitration and Mediation,” Maestría en Derecho Corporativo, Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City, Mexico, June 2007
• Panel Moderator, "Challenges Faced by Independent Companies in the E&P Sector in Brazil: A Case Study – Perspectives on the 9th Bidding Round," Brazil Drilling to the Point, Institute for International Comparative Law, Dallas, Texas, June 2007
• “The Rule of Law,” Mexico 2007 and Beyond: Challenges and Opportunities, Gonzalez Calvillo, S.C., 20th Anniversary Symposium, Mexico City, Mexico, June 2007
• Program Moderator, State Bar of Texas 20^th Annual Advanced Evidence and Discovery Course, Houston, Texas, April 2007
• Co-Panelist, “Recent Judicial Resolutions in Mexico and in Foreign Countries,” CAM TEC Annual Event on Contemporary Practice on Mediation & Commercial Arbitration, Centro de Arbitraje de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico, January 2007
• “Lease Royalty and Associated Provisions – Contemporary Issues,” American Association of Mineral Owners 2006 Conference, Houston, Texas, October 2006
• “Lessons Learned: The Energy Industry after the Hurricanes,” 5th Annual Gas & Power Institute, The University of Texas School of Law, Houston, Texas, September 2006
• “Controlling Outside Counsel Fees,” West Coast General Counsel Roundtable - Balancing Risk and Reward in an Era of Global Competition, The Economist, San Francisco, California, June 2006
• Panel Moderator, “Managing Upstream Investment Risk in Developing Countries,” NAPE Expo 2006, Houston, Texas, February 2006
• "Force Majeure – Contemporary Applications and Challenges,” The Energy Industry after the Hurricanes: Dealing with Storms of Controversy,  Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Breakfast Seminar, Houston, Texas, November 2005
• “International Litigation, Arbitration and Mediation,” Maestría en Derecho Corporativo, Universidad Panamericana, June 2005
• Trial Advocacy Program, Voir Dire, Cross Examination, Direct Examination, Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. presentation, Houston, Texas, 1993 - 2007
• “Trends in Energy Litigation,” State Bar of Texas Oil, Gas and Law Section Annual Meeting, State Bar Convention, Houston, Texas, June 2003
• Panelist, "Measure of Damages – Lost Production,”  Deferred or Lost Oil & Gas Production: Recovery/Exposure When Something Goes Bump in the Night, Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Breakfast Seminar, Houston, Texas, October 2002
• Conference chair and presenter, “Introduction to Mediation Strategies,” Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Mexican Mediation Conference, Houston, Texas, September 2002
• “Selected Current Topics in Energy Trading and Transborder Energy Sales,” Fourth Latin American Regional Conference, Legal Challenges for the 21st Century, International Bar Association, Cuzco, Peru, April 2002
• Program Moderator, "Energy Reform in Mexico - New Opportunities for Energy Companies?" Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Breakfast Seminar, Houston, Texas, January 2002
• “Jurisdiction, Service of Process and Enforcement of Judgments (Selected Topics),” National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade, Product Liability in Latin America (A Seminar for U.S. Manufacturers, Exporters and Lawyers), Miami, Florida, September 2001
• "United States Energy Laws," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Program for Chinese Delegation of Future Executives from Zhejing Province, Houston, Texas, May 1999
• “A Day in the Life of a Business Litigator,” Career Services of University of Houston Law Center, Houston, Texas, February 1997
• "Preparing Witnesses for Deposition and Defending Depositions," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Litigation Training Program Lecture Series, Houston, Texas, 1997-2007

1984 - J.D., University of Houston School of Law
1981 - B.B.A., Accounting, Texas A&M University

While in law school, Mr. Wood was an associate editor of the Houston Law Review. He is admitted to practice in the United States District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western Districts of Texas, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Texas Supreme Court.

• University of Houston Law Alumni Association, Past President
• University of Houston Law Foundation, Board Member/Vice President
• West University Little League, Board Member
• Texas A&M 12th Man Foundation, Development Council