Energy

OVERVIEW

EXPERIENCE

NEWS & INSIGHTS

Empowering our energy clients to seize growth opportunities, mitigate risks, and win high-stakes litigation—because we understand energy.

With deep industry knowledge across the oil, gas, and infrastructure sectors, Seyfarth energy attorneys take a proactive, solutions-oriented approach to help our energy clients navigate risks, structure high-value transactions, and win complex disputes—positioning them for long-term success.

HOW WE HELP

Energy clients operate in a complex, fast-evolving global market, facing challenges that require strategic, industry-specific legal counsel. Seyfarth energy attorneys seamlessly integrate with our top-ranked capabilities—including corporate, litigation, labor & employment, real estate, tax, and restructuring—to deliver tailored, business-focused legal solutions at every stage of the energy value chain.

Corporate, Transactional & Regulatory. Seyfarth energy attorneys advise energy companies, private equity sponsors, family offices, institutional investors, insurance carriers, and financial institutions in complex strategic transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, representations and warranties insurance, and capital investments.

Whether energy clients are acquiring exploration and production rights, developing infrastructure, managing regulatory compliance, or selling and transporting refined products, we deliver practical, business-focused solutions. Our deep energy experience spans:

Upstream exploration and production (E&P)
Midstream infrastructure and transportation
Downstream refining, petrochemicals, and marketing
Renewables, carbon markets, and emerging technologies

Beyond conventional energy, we advise power producers, energy infrastructure developers, storage and transmission operators, and emerging technology investors—helping them structure transactions that maximize value while mitigating regulatory and financial risks.

Labor & Employment. Our labor and employment attorneys have a deep understanding of the oil and gas business and the unique job roles of their workers during drilling and completions, fracking and production, and pipeline construction, storage and transportation. This industry insight, combined with our strategic and aggressive defense strategies, has led to significant wins—protecting our clients’ business models and workforce structures. Our labor and employment attorneys have set important legal precedent on behalf of the oil and gas industry in district and appellate courts throughout the United States. We are proud to partner with our energy clients to help them manage legal risks, bolstered by our deep insights into operational demands, pay structures, collective bargaining agreements, and management strategies.

Our representative litigation and counseling matters include:

Wage & hour class and collective actions
Discrimination claims and litigation
Traditional labor, including union avoidance
Cross-border/international employment law in almost every country in the world
Post-merger workforce integrations

Litigation. Our commercial litigation team represents energy clients in high-stakes disputes, including contract enforcement, partnership conflicts, and regulatory challenges. We represent clients across the oil, gas, and power sectors in litigation involving:

Company and shareholder agreements, joint ventures, royalty disputes, and services agreements
Infrastructure development and project disputes
Environmental compliance and regulatory enforcement actions
Government investigations and administrative proceedings

With deep industry knowledge and a proven track record in litigation, we achieve exceptional legal outcomes—whether through negotiation, arbitration, or trial—while fiercely protecting our clients' commercial and strategic interests.

THE SEYFARTH EXPERIENCE

We don’t just provide legal counsel—we act as strategic partners, delivering tailored legal solutions that drive results. Our Energy Industry Group is built on a foundation of collaboration, efficiency, and industry expertise. Every client benefits from our proprietary service model, combining legal acumen, process optimization, and technology-driven insights to create real business impact. With precise, strategic guidance, we help our energy clients confidently navigate the future.

EXPERIENCE

Corporate & Transactional

Represented a private equity-backed portfolio company in the formation of a joint venture focused on the development of a natural gas microgrid.
Represented a private equity-backed portfolio company in the formation of a joint venture involving oil and gas assets in the Gulf of Mexico.
Represented a family office in structuring a joint venture to acquire, develop, and exploit oil and gas assets.
Represented a privately held oil and gas company in its private placement to secure investor capital in connection with the acquisition and development of upstream and midstream oil and gas assets located on federal lands in Wyoming.
Represented a publicly traded energy company in its divestiture of upstream oil and gas assets located in Colorado.
Represented a European-based oil and gas company in the formation of a joint venture to develop onshore oil and gas assets located in California.
Representing general contractor in multiple renewable natural gas transactions. The general contractor is acting as the EPC contractor and negotiating deals with renewable natural gas developers across the US.
Represented the EPC contractor on the development of a $2 billion fertilizer plant in Wever, Iowa, involving state-of-the-art technology.
Negotiated the construction and engineering contracts and provided advice related to an Energy Savings Performance Contract with the US Army.
Represented a lender in a construction loan for a five-site solar farm in Massachusetts.
Drafted and negotiated construction contracts on behalf of maritime company engaged in offshore wind and liquified natural gas sources.
Represented a renewable energy company in connection with a refinancing of its existing credit facility with a new $10 million revolving line of credit and $45 million delayed draw term loan.
Represented an energy transition company in the $30 million acquisition of a former coal storage site that will be redeveloped as an offshore wind turbine marshalling yard.
Represented a global manufacturing company in a $5.5 billion build-to-suit lease and ground lease financing for the development of a 1.4-million-square-foot battery manufacturing complex in Queen Creek, Arizona.
Represented a leading data center provider in connection with a joint venture to bring to market more than 100 MW of power capacity and more than 500,000 square feet of data center space in Tennessee.
Represented an alternative energy technology-developer in a $65 million expansion of the current lease for its headquarters in Illinois.

Labor & Employment

Represented numerous oil and gas companies and services companies in FLSA collective/state-law class action, which alleged that a certain class of workers were misclassified as independent contractors. Obtained over 50 successful verdicts in trial, arbitration, and at summary judgment.
Won landmark case in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals holding that directional drillers were independent contractors.
Obtained a million dollar judgment in Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for attorneys’ fees against the US Department of Labor for bad faith investigation against energy services company where workers were correctly classified as independent contractors.
Represented numerous energy companies in collective action involving oilfield workers who were assigned to the company through third-party suppliers and alleged that they were employees of the energy companies and entitled to overtime compensation. Because the plaintiffs signed arbitration agreement with the third-party suppliers, we successfully compelled arbitration.
Successfully defended an international energy company in multiple arbitrations in California. Claimants alleged various violations of the California Labor Code, including off-the-clock work, unpaid overtime, on-call time, and meal and rest break violations. The Arbitrators dismissed all of Claimants’ claims and awarded our client costs.
Obtained dismissal of sex discrimination and retaliation claims against multinational oil and gas corporation and oilfield services contractor; court also found plaintiff could not establish joint employer relationship.
Represented numerous energy and oil field services companies with respect to layoff/RIF decisions involving tens of thousands of workers, including review of layoffs decisions, preparation of documentation for each decision, and review for potential disparate impact discrimination.
Performed annual pay equity audits, performance rating analyses, DEI reviews, affirmative action plans, federal reporting, and other workforce analytics for an international oil company, encompassing all field, technical, professional, and corporate employees.

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Empowering our energy clients to seize growth opportunities, mitigate risks, and win high-stakes litigation—because we understand energy.

HOW WE HELP

Upstream exploration and production (E&P)
Midstream infrastructure and transportation
Downstream refining, petrochemicals, and marketing
Renewables, carbon markets, and emerging technologies

Our representative litigation and counseling matters include:

Wage & hour class and collective actions
Discrimination claims and litigation
Traditional labor, including union avoidance
Cross-border/international employment law in almost every country in the world
Post-merger workforce integrations

Company and shareholder agreements, joint ventures, royalty disputes, and services agreements
Infrastructure development and project disputes
Environmental compliance and regulatory enforcement actions
Government investigations and administrative proceedings

THE SEYFARTH EXPERIENCE

EXPERIENCE

Corporate & Transactional

Represented a private equity-backed portfolio company in the formation of a joint venture focused on the development of a natural gas microgrid.
Represented a private equity-backed portfolio company in the formation of a joint venture involving oil and gas assets in the Gulf of Mexico.
Represented a family office in structuring a joint venture to acquire, develop, and exploit oil and gas assets.
Represented a privately held oil and gas company in its private placement to secure investor capital in connection with the acquisition and development of upstream and midstream oil and gas assets located on federal lands in Wyoming.
Represented a publicly traded energy company in its divestiture of upstream oil and gas assets located in Colorado.
Represented a European-based oil and gas company in the formation of a joint venture to develop onshore oil and gas assets located in California.
Representing general contractor in multiple renewable natural gas transactions. The general contractor is acting as the EPC contractor and negotiating deals with renewable natural gas developers across the US.
Represented the EPC contractor on the development of a $2 billion fertilizer plant in Wever, Iowa, involving state-of-the-art technology.
Negotiated the construction and engineering contracts and provided advice related to an Energy Savings Performance Contract with the US Army.
Represented a lender in a construction loan for a five-site solar farm in Massachusetts.
Drafted and negotiated construction contracts on behalf of maritime company engaged in offshore wind and liquified natural gas sources.
Represented a renewable energy company in connection with a refinancing of its existing credit facility with a new $10 million revolving line of credit and $45 million delayed draw term loan.
Represented an energy transition company in the $30 million acquisition of a former coal storage site that will be redeveloped as an offshore wind turbine marshalling yard.
Represented a global manufacturing company in a $5.5 billion build-to-suit lease and ground lease financing for the development of a 1.4-million-square-foot battery manufacturing complex in Queen Creek, Arizona.
Represented a leading data center provider in connection with a joint venture to bring to market more than 100 MW of power capacity and more than 500,000 square feet of data center space in Tennessee.
Represented an alternative energy technology-developer in a $65 million expansion of the current lease for its headquarters in Illinois.

Labor & Employment

Represented numerous oil and gas companies and services companies in FLSA collective/state-law class action, which alleged that a certain class of workers were misclassified as independent contractors. Obtained over 50 successful verdicts in trial, arbitration, and at summary judgment.
Won landmark case in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals holding that directional drillers were independent contractors.
Obtained a million dollar judgment in Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for attorneys’ fees against the US Department of Labor for bad faith investigation against energy services company where workers were correctly classified as independent contractors.
Represented numerous energy companies in collective action involving oilfield workers who were assigned to the company through third-party suppliers and alleged that they were employees of the energy companies and entitled to overtime compensation. Because the plaintiffs signed arbitration agreement with the third-party suppliers, we successfully compelled arbitration.
Successfully defended an international energy company in multiple arbitrations in California. Claimants alleged various violations of the California Labor Code, including off-the-clock work, unpaid overtime, on-call time, and meal and rest break violations. The Arbitrators dismissed all of Claimants’ claims and awarded our client costs.
Obtained dismissal of sex discrimination and retaliation claims against multinational oil and gas corporation and oilfield services contractor; court also found plaintiff could not establish joint employer relationship.
Represented numerous energy and oil field services companies with respect to layoff/RIF decisions involving tens of thousands of workers, including review of layoffs decisions, preparation of documentation for each decision, and review for potential disparate impact discrimination.
Performed annual pay equity audits, performance rating analyses, DEI reviews, affirmative action plans, federal reporting, and other workforce analytics for an international oil company, encompassing all field, technical, professional, and corporate employees.

Related News & Insights

View All