Edward D. Hughes

Partner

Taylor Porter Partner Eddie Hughes serves as the Chair of the Oil/Gas/Regulated Industry practice, and as a member of the firm's Executive Committee.

Eddie's primary areas of practice include commercial litigation, oil and gas litigation and transactions, toxic tort litigation, and insurance defense and Casualty Litigation. He brings his unique experience as a former independent petroleum landman to counsel clients on both transactional and litigation matters involving the oil and gas industry.

He regularly advises and represents clients in disputes involving Joint Operating Agreements, Areas of Mutual Interest, oil and gas royalty or overriding royalty, oil and gas leases, energy marketing contracts, joint billing issues, operator/working interest owner issues, and cases involving “downhole” negligence issues. Further, he represents a wide range of clients in “Legacy” lawsuits, which generally involve claims of environmental contamination and remediation, short-term and long-term exposure to hazardous materials, naturally occurring radioactive material (“NORM”), oil field waste, and products liability on lands with or near oil and gas operations.

In addition to his litigation experience, he advises and represents clients on matters related to mineral title examinations, including leasehold, drillsite and division order title opinions, both onshore and offshore.

Eddie has extensive experience in contract and agreement preparation including purchase and sale agreements, surface and subsurface leases, mineral leases, operating agreements, voluntary and reservoir-wide unit agreements, farmouts, subleases, assignments of leases and overriding royalties, and various curative instruments. He regularly appears before the Commissioner of Conservation, Department of Natural Resource, State of Louisiana regarding unitization matters.

Eddie has argued before Louisiana state and federal district courts, Louisiana appellate courts, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Eddie’s notable representative matters include:

  • Lead counsel for a number of oil and gas operators and working interest owners in various “Legacy lawsuits”.
  • Counsel for Fortune 100 chemical company in a number of “Legacy lawsuits,” lawsuits involving claims for environmental contamination and remediation on property with previous and ongoing oil and gas operations.
  • Counsel for major timber company in a number of “Legacy lawsuits,” lawsuits involving claims for environmental contamination and remediation on property with previous and ongoing oil and gas operations.
  • Counsel for drilling company in suit involving the prosecution of a negligence claim by the operator and working interest owners for negligence against a contractor which resulted in damage to a well bore.
  • Counsel for drilling company in suit involving the prosecution of a claim by the operator and against a contractor involving a fee dispute.
  • Lead counsel for a group of overriding royalty owners seeking damages against an operator for bad faith termination of overriding royalty interests culminating in  a significant verdict in favor of the clients.
  • Lead counsel for the subsidiary of a Fortune 500 company defending indemnity and single business enterprise claims arising out of a previous Legacy lawsuit.
  • Lead counsel for an independent exploration company involved in a dispute concerning an Area of Mutual Interest (AMI) and interpretation of a series of Joint Operating Agreements.
  • Counsel for a pipeline company in lawsuit involving environmental damage and water contamination arising out of historical pipeline operations.
  • Counsel for chemical manufacturer in complex toxic exposure litigation by a former on-site contractor.
  • Counsel for state university in a dispute  with an oil and gas operator involving contractual and unitization issues on property owned by the university.
  • Counsel for a riverboat casino operator in defense of a $600 million Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices claim by a competing license applicant.  Jury award for the plaintiff in the amount of $3 million reduced by the trial court to $1.6 million, and then overturned on appeal.  Applying the Noerr-Pennington doctrine, the Court of Appeal dismissed all of plaintiff’s claims.  The Louisiana Supreme Court denied writs and the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari.
  • Lead counsel for a number of oil and gas operators in a mass tort suit filed by the SLFPA-E for damages arising out of oil and gas operations.
  • Lead counsel for various oil and gas operators in a suit filed by two (2) Louisiana parishes for violations of the Coastal Zone Management Act.
  • Counsel for a major steel manufacturer seeking to build a plant in Louisiana involving a site with numerous operating natural gas wells.

Eddie received his J.D. from the Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center where he was a member of the Louisiana Law Review and Order of the Coif. He graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now University of Louisiana at Lafayette) with a B.A. in 1994. Before law school, Eddie worked as an independent petroleum landman where he negotiated the sale and acquisition of potential and existing oil and gas properties for various small to medium-sized oil and gas exploration companies.

After law school and immediately before joining the firm, Eddie served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable James J. Brady, United States District Judge, Middle District of Louisiana.

In the community, Eddie currently serves as a member of the Louisiana Bar Foundation Capital Area Community Partnership Panel. He formerly served as the Chairman on the Board of Directors for the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank.

Articles & Publications

"What Issues Should Landowners Consider Before Entering into Mineral Leases and Similar Agreements?" The Taylor RePorter Practice Area Blog, April 26, 2018


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