Poe Leggette was recently recognized by the Independent Petroleum Association of America for “25 Years of Outstanding Legal Representation,” having saved independent oil and gas producers an estimated $25 billion in costs from excessive regulation. He serves as BakerHostetler’s Energy Industry team leader, a team that was named in 2015 as Practice Group of the Year by Law360.
Addressing the intricate needs of oil and gas companies, Poe focuses his well-established practice on litigation and transactional work in the energy industry. His experience includes four principal areas of representation: onshore shale plays, federal and private mineral royalties, oil and gas companies operating on federal and Indian lands, and companies operating under federal leases in the Gulf of Mexico. Prior to entering private practice, Poe served as assistant solicitor for the U.S. Department of the Interior, advising the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Minerals Management Service (MMS) on their onshore and offshore energy programs, as well as MMS's Royalty Management Program on questions of royalty valuation.
Federal Onshore
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Part of team in two cases successfully defending U.S. oil and natural gas production company against allegations of non-arm’s-length sales of unprocessed gas brought by the U.S. Department of the Interior. The court reversed both decisions and remanded the cases to the agency. Continental Res., Inc. v. Gould, No. CV 14-65, 2019 WL 1440111 (D.D.C. Mar. 30, 2019), and Continental Res., Inc. v. Bernhardt, No. CV 17-2197 (Apr. 16, 2019).
Federal Royalties
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Won case of first impression under Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Simplification and Fairness Act. U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed a lower court ruling that had held a lessee’s suit to challenge a federal royalty demand was time-barred. Continental Resources, Inc. v. Jewell, 2017 WL 406183 (D.C. Cir. Jan. 31, 2017).
Shale Development and Private Royalty
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Successfully defended on appeal a grant of summary judgment against a competitor oil and gas company suing under the Sherman Act for alleged impairment to its ability to develop its leases. Buccaneer Energy (USA) Inc., v. Gunnison Energy Corp., 2017 WL ____ (10th Cir. Feb. 3, 2017).
Gulf of Mexico