Overview

Fairfield and Woods represents and counsels clients in the oil and gas, hard rock and coal mining, water and related industries, offering its clients a full range of transactional, litigation, environmental and regulatory legal services. We assist clients with asset acquisitions of all types: structured business transactions tailored to our client’s needs in the United States and abroad; issues arising from acquisition, exploration, development and operations on federally- and privately-owned lands, as well as Native American lands; acquisition of water rights for projects; and all phases of facility siting and environmental permitting and planning. Fairfield and Woods also represents lenders and investors in natural resources businesses. Our attorneys represent clients before numerous federal, state and local administrative agencies and governmental bodies, before federal and state courts and in arbitrations. Several attorneys working in our Natural Resources practice have either taught or are working on advanced education in natural resources law.

Our combined experience includes a broad range of natural resources, environmental, water and utility law:

  • Oil and gas leasing, asset acquisition, divestiture, project finance, litigation, arbitration and administrative appeals
  • Oil and gas taxation
  • Abstract and county records reviews, and preparation of acquisition, drilling and division order title opinions
  • Hard rock mineral/coal leasing and asset acquisition, divestiture, litigation, arbitration and administrative appeals
  • Preparation of title reports/opinions covering patented and unpatented mining claims, and fee, federal and state-owned coal
  • Oil and gas, mineral and coal development on federal lands and tribal and allotted Indian lands
  • Preparation of title reports covering oil and gas, mineral and coal leases on tribal and allotted lands
  • Water rights
  • Tribal and other federal reserved water rights
  • Renewable energy, including wind and solar energy development agreements and litigation
  • Royalty litigation
  • Petroleum storage tank litigation
  • Downstream refining, manufacturing and marketing issues, joint ownership agreements, toxic tort, premises liability, construction disputes, intellectual property, supply agreements, product liability controversies, plant accidents and major incident litigation
  • Surface use agreements
  • Easements and rights-of-way
  • Land use issues of all types
  • Gas marketing and transportation, including transportation exchange agreements and natural gas affiliate marketing
  • Oil and gas valuation
  • Assist oil and gas, mineral and coal owners/companies to assure business succession and wealth transfers for families and privately-owned companies, with an understanding of unique asset requirements
  • Environmental compliance assistance of all types in the natural resource context, including wetlands permitting, NEPA review, Clean Water Act claims and issues, Air and Water Quality Act issues, environmental investigation and remediation, Endangered Species Act issues and Historic Preservation Act issues
  • Environmental litigation, including CERCLA, RCRA, Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act cases, and the defense of citizen suits
  • Product liability litigation related to damaged oil wells

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