Beginning with the Morrow County Oil Boom in the 1960’s, Kegler Brown has assisted oil and gas developers, producers, pipeline companies, service companies, landowners and marketers in the oil and gas industry in Ohio and across the nation. We have helped public companies and closely-held companies with contract negotiations, buying and selling properties, financing acquisitions and operations, mediating and litigating disputes. The firm has worked with lenders and investors in connection with hundreds of millions of dollars of financing. We have participated in negotiations over countless contracts relating to oil and gas production. We have also litigated a wide variety of cases, including disputes involving landowners and producers, development contracts, transportation agreements, joint venturers, lien priority, and contractors. In addition, we regularly represent our oil and gas clients in collection matters, receiverships, and bankruptcies.
The New Millennium has created vast opportunities and corresponding new risks for businesses involved in the production, transmission, marketing, sale and purchase of electricity, natural gas, telecommunications and data services. Through legislation and administrative regulation, the rules of the road that govern these activities have continued the trend toward market-based competition to supply essential utility services and related products. New players are involved, including competitive suppliers of electrical generation and transmission services, local exchange services and natural gas. Municipalities engage governmental aggregators to provide their residents with alternatives to purchasing these supplies from regulated gas and electric utilities. The upshot? Your energy and utilities lawyer is more important than ever before.
At Kegler, Brown, Hill & Ritter, we understand that our clients may not understand the nuances of the new legal and regulatory framework in which our clients currently operate and the opportunities and risks that can be overlooked in their overall business plan and operations.
Our integrated approach to legal services blends experience from our many other practices to provide our clients with a team possessing a unique perspective on these highly regulated, yet increasingly competition-driven enterprises. Our attorneys represent public utilities, competitive electricity and natural gas suppliers and related businesses in a wide range of regulatory and rate-making proceedings before the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, as well as the establishment of municipal ordinance rates. Because of the importance of legislation and administrative rulemaking that can have significant impact on our clients’ businesses, we track such activities that may impact energy clients.
We offer our energy clients experienced counsel in contractual, transactional and creditor relations matters. The State Capital Group* -- of which Kegler Brown is a founding member, is also a critical tool we employ to serve our clients. Through this organization, we have a direct link to the leading attorneys and law firms in every state capitol, providing up-to-date information and experienced counsel to our clients in a timely and cost-effective manner.
Whether your organization is looking to secure required approvals in the energy industry, or to influence the decision-making process in local municipalities or in the state legislature, our energy and utilities law practice group should be an integral part of your business planning.
* Member firms of the State Capital Group practice independently and not in a relationship for the joint practice of law.