15th Appalachia Energy Law Conference

Overview

Presented by the Institute for Energy Law and the Energy & Mineral Law Foundation (EMLF).

The Appalachia Energy Law Conference is held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  The conference focuses on legal issues related to onshore energy production, primarily oil and gas production in Appalachia. The conference brings together clients, attorneys, professional landmen, and other professionals to learn and discuss important cases, concepts, and trends. In addition, the conference features networking opportunities with other attendees.

Conference Co-Chairs

Stefanie Burt
EQT Corporation
Pittsburgh, PA

Jennifer J. Hicks
Babst, Calland, Clements & Zomnir, PC
Charleston, WV

Registration Options

• $540 - Regular Registration Fee
• $440 - IEL Advisory Board Member
• $440 - IEL Supporting or Sustaining Member Employee
• $440 - IEL Young Energy Professional Member
• $440 - EMLF Member
• $440 - Government Employee
• $440 - In-House Employee
• $125 - Full-time Law Professor
• $75 - Law Student

Schedule and Faculty

September 4

5:30 – 7:30 p.m. - Welcome Reception

Il Tetto at Sienna Mercato
942 Penn Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

September 5

7:45 a.m. - Registration

8:20 – 8:30 a.m. - Welcome, Overview and Introductions

8:30 – 9:15 a.m. - The Role of Natural Gas in a Low Carbon World (Non-CLE)

A legal perspective on the future role of Appalachia and natural gas in the energy transition. How can we adopt strategies to diversify and leverage core competencies in natural gas to do so?

• Ashley Yates, VP and DGC – Legal, EQT Corporation, Houston, Texas

9:15 – 10:00 a.m. - Checking the Math: Challenging Accounting and Other Experts in Oil & Gas Litigation

The speakers will give an overview of recent accounting expert challenges and Daubert motions practice in oil and gas royalty litigation, as well as strategic and practical considerations for challenging the reliability and fit of expert testimony in complex matters generally.

• David Fusco, K&L Gates LLP, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Emily Weiss, K&L Gates LLP, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

10:00 – 10:20 a.m. - BREAK

10:20 – 11:20 a.m. - New Opportunities in the Emerging Transportation and Energy Sector

New technologies have emerged with the increasing growth of alternative energy into the grid mix. These new technologies expressly include the use of energy storage in the form of lithium ion batteries that have proven to be a resilient and reliable option to store energy to even the flow of generation from intermittent sources such as wind and solar. The battery technology has also proven helpful in grid stabilization, supplemental sources for peak demand, and back up power in cases of failures. With the increasing demand for this technology growing in several sectors (e.g., electric vehicles as well as stationary application), questions have arisen regarding the sourcing of the raw materials and processing of minerals to manufacture those batteries. Currently, the majority of minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, bauxite and others are either produced or processed in foreign countries of concern (e.g., China). The current Administration has established a policy of onshoring sourcing of these minerals and their attendant processing in the United States. Recently, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a $2.3 billion loan to Lithium Americas for development of a lithium carbonate processing plant in Nevada. Additional incentives and funding for those incentives were included in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. This seminar will review the background in the growth of this new sector and how domestic industries in mining and mineral processing can potentially benefit from the new and developing federal policies supporting the growth of this industry.

• James Chen, Babst, Calland, Clements & Zomnir, PC, Washington, D.C.
• Corey Ershow, Sr. Manager, Public Policy, Rivian, Washington, D.C.
• Leslie Hayward, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs, Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE), Washington, D.C.
• Nitin Tyagi, Vice President, Supply Chain, Our Next Energy, Novi, Michigan

11:20 a.m. – 12:05 p.m. - Tri-State Regulatory Roundup

• Anne C. Blankenship, Robinson & McElwee PLLC, Charleston, West Virginia
• Kevin Colosimo, Frost Brown Todd LLP, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Greg Russell, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, Columbus, Ohio

12:05 – 12:40 p.m. - Lunch

12:40 – 1:15 p.m. - Energy Policy After the Election: Divergent Pathways

Former FERC Commissioner and Dept. of Energy official Bernard L. McNamee will provide perspective about how energy policy may develop depending on which party wins the Presidential election, as well as which party(ies) control the House of Representatives and Senate.

• Hon. Bernard L. McNamee, Former FERC Commissioner, McGuireWoods LLP, Richmond, Virgina

1:15 – 1:30 p.m. - BREAK

1:30 – 2:30 p.m. - Low-Carbon Development on Severed Estates and New Things to Fight About

Co-locating energy resources is an old story, but are mineral rights holding back the energy transition? From solar to carbon sequestration facilities, identifying and accounting for mineral owners is a big job that complicates development, financing, and public buy-in. Can we protect mineral owners without killing the transition? Join a panel of attorneys on the frontline of this issue for a discussion of where and how the lines are being drawn.

• Tiffany A. Culp, VP – Land & Legal, Three Rivers Royalty, LLC, Washington, Pennsylvania
• Chris Furey, Bricker Graydon LLP, Cleveland, Ohio

2:30 – 3:15 p.m. - Big 10: Ten (Or More) Recent Title Cases in Appalachia

This presentation will review recent decisions in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia affecting questions that arise in title examinations. We will cover cases addressing fractional mineral interests, deed interpretation, boundary disputes, tax assessments, and the Ohio Marketable Title and Dormant Mineral Acts.

• Andy Graham, Steptoe & Johnson PLLC, Morgantown, West Virginia
• Candace Smith, Steptoe & Johnson PLLC, Lexington, Kentucky

3:15 – 3:30 p.m. - BREAK

3:30 – 4:15 p.m. - In-House Insight

A well-rounded panel of in-house counsel will discuss their practices and their broader perspectives on the current state of energy law in Appalachia, including how outside counsel can best assist them in navigating the challenges in an ever changing environment.

Moderator: Tom Galligan, Reed Smith LLP, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Panelists:

• Whitney A. Donley, Managing Attorney - Marcellus, Chesapeake Energy Corporation, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Lisa C. McManus, Vice President, Legal & General Counsel, Pennsylvania General Energy Company, Warren, Pennsylvania
• Lawrence R. Skrzysowski, Director of Land Acquisitions, EQT Corporation, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania

4:15 – 5:15 p.m. - Taking Care of Business: Ethics Issues in Employee Exits (Ethics)

Panelists will discuss ethics issues confronted by companies after employment ends. Topics will include ethics issues in negotiating and enforcing provisions of separation agreements, common questions that arise when employees join competitors, and best practices for navigating post-employment disputes.

• Nick Brown, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Houston, Texas

5:15 p.m. - Adjourn

MCLE Credit

The program is approved in the following Jurisdictions, Pennsylvania for a total of 6.5 hours, including 1 hour of ethics; West Virginia for a total of 7.8 hours, including 1.2 hour of ethics; State Bar of Texas for a total of 6.5 hours, including 1 hour of ethics. TX Course ID Number: 174247035.

IEL as registrar for the conference will directly apply for course accreditation in the following additional states: CA, LA, KY, NM, OH, OK, and VA. Some of these states may not approve a program for credit hours before the program occurs. The program Approved credit hours will vary by jurisdiction and are subject to each jurisdiction’s approval and credit rounding rules.

AAPL Credit

This program has been accredited for 6.5 RL, RPL or CPL recertification credit(s) (CEU), and 0 CPL/ESA, and/or 1 Ethics credit(s) (CEU Ethics), for a total of 6.5 credit(s). (Number of credits accredited or claimed for 100% participation in this educational program.)

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